My country, 'tis o' thee

Dear America,

What is wrong with you? I read your newspapers every day, our newspapers, in an effort to keep up with the world, yet they fail me time and time again. You know how I learned about the riots in Dublin? From Irish bloggers like the Saint and Fiona, NOT American newspapers. Sure, when I did a Google search for "Dublin riots," I found a WaPo article about it on the third page of searching, but it had been buried somewhere in cyberspace and had not been on the Wapo homepage. What's the matter? Can you not deal with the fact that IRA scum don't wear headscarves and speak Arabic? Are they somehow "better" in your eyes because they are white and speak English?

When I see O'Connell Street torn up like this, it really hits me, since I feel the city is my spirtual home. (I would live there if I could just get a work permit. Or a book deal. Or a hot Irish husband.) But more importantly, it shows that Republican and Unionist scum still have the potential to wreak havoc on the island. Thank god they are in the minority.

Photo HT: Saint

This blog has been sold to a foreign government

Ack, I feel a severe case of the Sunday dread coming on. Where did the weekend go?

I'm guessing bushie's veto will be overridden. Gotta love it when he hands these types of golden gift issues to the Dems.

I'm a little burnt out and politically jaded right now. Will return to blogging sometime this week. And today is my blog birthday. One year old. Hmm.

I'll be back. -The Governator

Ice dancing is not a sport (and other Olympic notes because I'm not in the mood for political bickering)

It's not. Figure skaters are some of the most incredible atheletes, but ice dancing is simply pomp and circumstance.

Why is NBC using Torino instead of the English Turin? This is fine with me. I've never been a fan of calling a place by anything other than its real name, but if we are going to use Torino, we also need to use Roma, Firenze, and Venezia. WaPo is properly using Turin, so not everyone is trying to sound bellisimo.

Also, why is NBC using bobsleigh for bobsled?

Why is curling becoming so popular?

Men's hockey restarts Wednesday, perhaps the most exciting sport in the entire winter Olympics (I know that's not saying much.) I'm rooting for Ovechkin to make a show. It's strange how things change, how at one time Olympic hockey was symbolic of the Cold War and now we are free to say we want a Russian to do well. (What's that clicking in my phone?)

Finally, I'm glad Bode Miller isn't getting any medals. This year's Team USA is full of arrogant jerks like him, Shani Davis, and Lindsey Jacobellis.

Hallelujah, the Dems have a plan

Democrats may unite on plan to pull troops

After months of trying unsuccessfully to develop a common message on the war in Iraq, Democratic Party leaders are beginning to coalesce around a broad plan to begin a quick withdrawal of US troops and install them elsewhere in the region, where they could respond to emergencies in Iraq and help fight terrorism in other countries.

The concept, dubbed "strategic redeployment," is outlined in a slim, nine-page report coauthored by a former Reagan administration assistant Defense secretary, Lawrence J. Korb, in the fall. It sets a goal of a phased troop withdrawal that would take nearly all US troops out of Iraq by the end of 2007, although many Democrats disagree on whether troop draw-downs should be tied to a timeline.

Sounds like one that may work, one that is in between stay the course and cut and run, as the gops say are the only options. The American people would certainly go for it if it is sold correctly.

Facts are not things one "believes in"

On Great Lakes, Winter Is Served Straight Up

For the first time that anyone in Put-in-Bay could remember, the Great Lakes were ice-free in the middle of winter. Even Lake Erie, the shallowest of the five lakes and usually the first to freeze over, was clear.

"There's essentially no ice at all," said George Leshkevich, a scientist who has studied Great Lakes ice for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, since 1973. "I've never seen that."

The unusually warm weather has upset the routine for hundreds of people who live year-round on islands in Lake Erie.

You know that argument that says cutting pollution will harm the economy? Seems like the economy is hurt by global warming.

This year, the unusually warm weather wiped out the ice-fishing trade. Many guides tried boat fishing, but strong winds whipped up sediment and clouded the water so the walleyes could not see the lures. "I'm down $40,000," said Bud Gehring, another guide. "It's hurt everybody."

With no ice fishing, 1,200 cases of beer sat unsold, stacked to the ceiling inside Niese's Island General Store. A bed-and-breakfast owner, Jean Burgess, has not rented a room all winter.

For the first time in its 100-year history, Miller Boat Lines ran a ferry across Lake Erie through the month of January. "We're not making money here," Mr. Market says. "It's our duty to do this."

The ferry costs $12, and that means less work for airplane pilots, who charge $80 to fly round-trip to the islands.

"This has knocked a big hole out of our business," said Melodie Griffing-Taylor, who has helped run Griffing Airlines since 1962. "I've never seen anything like it."

As the late God of the right, Reagan says, "Facts are stupid things."

Do things ever change?

On the Left Tip has a great post today comparing turn of the 20th century corporate America with turn of the 21st century corporate America. A portion about the political and culture climate of the early 1900s of a book she is reading:

Forging prototypes of the modern corporation, [the robber barons] built the backbone for America's twentieth century almost entirely without government interference or regulation, and with even less regard for individual human lives. The resulting Midas-like riches they hoarded exclusively for members of their own class, and greeted protests they should do otherwise with sneering contempt. By the turn of the century, through the influence of their various "trusts" - i.e., strangleholds - the super-rich controlled virtually every level of the country's financial and political life. All that was about to change.

Inspired by Teddy Roosevelt's presidential activism and led by a crusading younger generation of reformers, during the new century's first decade the growing labor movement mounted a stand against robber baron capitalism. A war for the hearts and minds of the nation's middle class ensued. Newpapers owned by the bosses presented money's side of the argument to a complacent public conditioned to believe what they were told. The Dickensian realities of the sweatshop and slaughterhouse, the mine and mill, wouldn't be given a national voice until the intellectual muckrakers of Greenwich Village found theirs.

And her rewrite:

Forging prototypes of the modern corporatocracy, the Republicans built the backdrop for America's twenty-first century almost entirely without government interference or regulation, and with even less regard for individual human lives. The resulting Midas-like riches they hoarded exclusively for members of their own class, and greeted protests they should do otherwise with sneering contempt and tax cuts for the wealthy. By the turn of the century, through the influence of their various "corporate interests" - i.e., strangleholds - the super-rich controlled virtually every level of the country's financial and political life. All that was about to change.

Inspired by grass-roots activism and led by a crusading younger generation of internet-savvy reformers, during the new century's first six years the growing accountability movement mounted a stand against Republican capitalism. A war for the hearts and minds of the nation's middle class ensued. Newpapers and media outlets owned by the bosses presented, almost exclusively, money and security's side of the argument to a complacent public conditioned to believe what they were told and react fearfully. The Dickensian realities of the state of civil rights and the plight of the working middle class, the mine and factory, wouldn't be given a national voice until the intellectual muckrakers of the blogosphere found theirs.

Teddy Roosevelt was never called a Communist for wanting to reign in corporate greed, exploitation, and corruption, yet this is a common label for liberals. It is slapped on us by people who don't know what communism is (or for that matter, capitalism) and view it as some sort of faceless "enemy."

He did it, too!

I've revised this post.

This post is not about Cheney's drunken hunting trip, but about the debate idiocy commenting found all over the blogosphere. I found this comment on HuffPo on a story about Dick, my comments in red:

It's nice to see a man who takes responsibility for a mistake like the vice-President. Two days after the incident, and only because the political pressure was mounting.

Unlike BJ Clinton, the Veep has done nothing but tell the truth about this run of the mill hunting accident. What does Clinton have to do with Cheney shooting a man? This is the way righties "debate." Was it Clinton's fault Cheney shot a guy?

And you libs are going to make a big deal out of one beer for lunch? This one is a bit more serious. First of all, "one beer for lunch" never means one beer for lunch. Secondly, alcohol and guns should NEVER be used in combination. Believe me, I drink a lot of beer - I'm the last person to say one drop of alcohol makes you drunk. But guns are designed to kill things. Any amount of focus or caution that is lost is too much when handling something designed to kill something.

Heck, a certain Mass. Senator has a six pack by the time he brushes his teeth in the morning. Here's the righty "debate" again. He did it, too! Again, TK has nothing to do with the fact that Cheney shot a guy.

If a gop jumped off a cliff, would the rest of them follow? Seriously, this is a major problem with American political "discourse" on both sides of the spectrum. I'm amazed when I read blogs that say something like "all idiot liberals don't have any ideas so they resort to namecalling." Like idiot isn't namecalling? I'm inclined to believe that the lack of intelligent dialogue plaguing a significant chunk of the blogosphere has a lot to do with our system of education, which focuses on standardized tests rather than teaching critical thinking and skills like debate. There is a virulent strand of anti-intelluctualism running through this country, which is most evident in conversations about science and research. It's as if stupidity is glorified in our culture these days. Just look at how stupid characters are beloved in our movies and television shows. Come on, use facts, stick to the topic, and at least listen to what your opponent has to say.

A logical argument according to Wiki*, "is an attempt to demonstrate the truth of an assertion called a conclusion, based on the truth of a set of assertions called premises." The "he did it, too!" defense is a fallacy; using it simply makes your argument invalid. Tu quoque! Tu quoque! Give me a break.

*Normally I would not use wiki for a source, but in this case, the article is a good and simple explanation of logical argument.

What happened to the New Democrats?

This is what I believe:

New Democrats are the modernizers of the progressive tradition in American politics. We believe in the traditional values that have always propelled the Democratic Party and we believe that the best way to further those values in a new era is to modernize our policies and programs to keep up with the changing times.

Our enduring purpose is equal opportunity for all, special privilege for none. Our public ethic is mutual responsibility. Our core value is community. Our outlook is global. And our modern means is an empowering government that equips people with the tools they need to get ahead.

New Democrat policies transcend the stale left-right debate and define a Third Way for governing based on progressive ideas, mainstream values, and innovative solutions that reflect changing times. New Democrat ideas that have become law include national service, work-based welfare reform, charter schools, community policing, an expanded earned-income tax credit, and market incentives for environmental protection.

What happened to the New Democrats? What happened to the Hyde Park Declaration? We have a damn good document in that declaration, one that we could build our party around. But the DLC has lost its way, blinded by the quotidien ritual of politicking. Gore used to be one, but he's become so entangeled in his political maneuvering that he doesn't know what he stands for anymore. Obama and Emmanuel are New Democrats, but Emmanuel had a hand in undoing Paul Hackett. Obama so far has been able to keep himself out of politicking for the most part, although he did receive that bizarre letter from McCain that accused him of just that.

All Democrats should read the document to remind ourselves of what we need to do. Someone with a loud voice needs break out the Hyde Park Declaration and start preaching it from the mountaintops, for only this can bring us a healthy November.

Fun with Mishaps

blog issues

blogger never works, and my template keeps automatically changing itself every time i publish. this has been going on for two weeks. they never answer support, either. apologies for weird looking things going on here. it's not in my control. i see in IE the right side bar drops down to the bottom of the page. sorry.

update: i am no longer able to access my blog except on very sporadic occassions. i wonder how long this will go on. i wonder if this update will publish...

update: apparently there is something wrong with my firefox, for i can access in IE. yuck.

test

Hackett verses Schmidt, part 2? NO

Rumor is that Hackett will be dropping out of the Senate race in Ohio and going after Jean "You're a coward" Schmidt again. This time, she isn't going to be so lucky, as she suffered from immense backlash for her comments against Murtha by many of those who supported here.

DeWine enjoys a slim lead over Sherrod Brown (45% - 40%) in a Rasmussen poll taken in January. The lead widens over Hackett (43% - 39%) The polls show improved numbers for DeWine, who has been behind both Brown and Hackett in recent November and December polls.

On the one hand, Hackett could spare the Democrats an expensive primary by dropping out. On the other, establishment Dems may be making another stupid move and eating their own. Brown should have never entered the Senate race in the first place.

Update: The Fix has more on this.

Update: Hackett has officially dropped out of the Senate race but will NOT run against Schmidt. Thanks a lot, establishment Dems, for disillusioning a rising star before he ever had a chance to shine.

Hi, welcome to Wal-Bank!

As if controlling nearly every major market in this country and the world weren't enough, Wal-mart is once again attempting to get into banking. The corporate behemoth has applied to create an industrial loan corporation in Utah. Wal-Mart has been denied attempts before, including an attempt to create and ILC in California, so let's hope it happens again.

Everyone knows Wal-Mart has a preposterous market share on most of the products it sells. It has a sixty percent share of the Discount Department/General Merchandise industry. It sells thirty percent of household staples such as toothpaste, shampoo, and paper towels. It controls twenty-eight percent of the toy industry and twenty percent of the music industry. Picture this: a single corporation virtually controlling the nation's money supply?

Imagine what Wal-Bank could do to the banking industry. Other banks will have to nickel and dime us until we can't take it anymore. Mortgage lenders will have to add last-minute junk fees. Credit card companies, already out of control, will jack up their rates even higher.

I am not an anti-capitalist. My criticism of Wal-Mart comes out of concern FOR capitalism, not against it. Simply put, Wal-Mart is bad for Business. Capitalism demands competition, as it stimulates innovation and efficiency, but when there is no competition left, what do you have? It certainly isn't capitalism anymore.

Please, don't say you have no choice to shop at Wal-Mart. Drive over to the next town if you have to. Don't say "one trip won't hurt," either. Imagine how many others also say "just one trip." Just stop shopping there before you no longer have the choice to shop anywhere else.

For more info on Wal-Mart, see Wake Up Walmart! and Wal-Mart Watch.

Muslims are against freedom of speech?

Feud With King Tests Freedoms In Morocco

This week, Moroccan prosecutors are scheduled to resume a criminal trial against Nadia Yassine, a leader of Justice and Charity, an underground Islamic movement that has become increasingly aggressive in testing the rule of King Mohammed VI. Yassine, 47, was charged last June with publicly criticizing the monarchy after she stated in a newspaper interview that the country would be better off as a republic than as a kingdom.

"I don't think we'll die if we no longer have a king," Yassine said then. She could be sentenced to three to five years in prison and receive a stiff fine if she is convicted.

Here we have yet another example of a reformer in the MENA region who is fighting her authoritarian regime. Finally, a major Western paper gives her some ink, a rarity in this day of Hate Muslims First that is prevalent in Western rhetoric. What's more, Nadia's group, Justice and Charity, is an Islamic organization. (What's that, did I hear rightwing minds shudder?) Of course, we hear the usual "they won't tolerate democracy if they are elected to power" rhetoric. How do we know? Islamic governments in more liberal and developed societies have never been given the chance to govern, unless you count Turkey, which has done a fine job of balancing Islam and government.

I'm not saying I don't believe that secularism is not the best way to go. I simply think that giving Islamic groups the chance to govern would be a stepping stone to a more progressive form of democracy. Democracy can never flourish if some groups are oppressed.

On a side note, the constitution of Morocco makes it illegal to criticize or insult the king. Doesn't the American right want to see the same thing?

Nadia's website has contact info. Why not write her and give your support?

Tell me more, tell me more

In Small Town, 'Grease' Ignites a Culture War

...a month after the performances in November, three letters arrived on the desk of Mark Enderle, Fulton's superintendent of schools. Although the letters did not say so, the three writers were members of a small group linked by e-mail, all members of the same congregation, Callaway Christian Church.

Each criticized the show, complaining that scenes of drinking, smoking, and a couple kissing went too far, and glorified conduct that the community tries to discourage. One letter, from someone who had not seen the show but only heard about it, criticized "immoral behavior veiled behind the excuse of acting out a play."

Dr. Enderle watched a video of the play, ultimately agreeing that "Grease" was unsuitable for the high school, despite his having approved it beforehand, without looking at the script. Hoping to avoid similar complaints in the future, he decided to ban the scheduled spring play, "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller.

Unsuitable for high school? It's ABOUT high school, you know, a little something called reality? The fact is the script was changed to be MORE conservative, and it still wasn't enough for these puritanical fascists.

What exactly is the culture war in America? Some say it is a struggle to define America. I don't agree with that, for America was defined at its birth. This country is about freedom from tyranny, yet tyranny is exact what the Christian(TM) right wants. No matter how many times I read a story like this, I find my jaw dropping with each new absurdity. If these people had been around during the time of Christ, they would have condemned Him as immoral, for he hung out with prostitutes, thieves, and tax collectors.

Despite it all, I do understand where they are coming from. It's a spiritual conflict; we live in a post-existential time when many people are simply struggling to spiritually survive in a sea of empty materialism and sensory overload. Our culture seems to have lost its soul. We have no appreciation for art or beauty, hence, no truth. Post-modernism tried to destroy any meaning life has, and I think it succeeded in destroying art, which pretty much proves that art does have meaning. A society with no appreciation for beauty cannot be spiritually fulfilled. And here in this high school play controversy we have another example of the lack of appreciation for art. (By the way, what comes after post-modernism? Post-post modernism? Is this why we seem to be going backwards? We've reached the end and have nowhere to go?)

Creation-evolution, censorship, video games, the FCC, and nipplegate; terrorism; capital punishment; English-only and immigration; environmentalism and global warming; family values; fundamentalism; feminism; Iraq War; Cartoon War; judicial activism; media bias; Patriot Act; euthanasia and Terri Schiavo; separation of church and state, public displays of the Ten Commandments, religious freedom, Pledge of Allegiance, school prayer; sexuality, reproduction, and contraception; abortion; homosexuality, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and gay marriage; sexual education and abstinence only; stem-cell research...

Stop the Earth, I want to get off! I'm running through a world that's lost its meaning; it's simply spinning because that is what it has always done.

Imagine

I love the Olympics. I love having the world come together for peaceful games and watching the world's best athletes with their hearts on their sleeves, eyes wide, many getting to travel outside of their countries for the first time in their lives. There is a youthful energy, a current of excitement that runs through the games, the crowds, the cheers, and the competitors. Their eyes sparkle as they come out for the opening ceremony, their faces full of joy, joie de vivre, zeitgeist... To me, the Olympics represent the best of humanity, a time when countries who would normally be at each others throats can get along (with a few notable exceptions.) The Olympics are full of a little thing called Hope, a celebration of how the world could be, mere games between people who are more similar than different.

The US team, who came out to Aretha's Freedom, received a rather loud ovation, second only to the host country Italia. It is good to know that not everyone hates us and that there are still people who believe that America represents the very things that are good in life - excellence, diversity, and fun.

Oh, Italy, such a wonderful country, full of life and beauty, aware everyday of its own historical magnificence. As everything Italian, the opening ceremony is very well done, very beautiful, unlike some of the recent avant garde Bjork ceremonies which were quite bizarre. Italian culture is so beautiful. What better way to end the ceremony than with Pavarotti bringing the house down? God, what a beautiful voice! What a beautiful language! What a beautiful life!

Buona fortuna agli atleti.

The violence of breathing

I am not a person easily offended, but every so often I see something really disturbing that rattles me. Google slapped a warning on a rightwing site called The Study of Revenge, which has some of the most hate-filled garbage I have ever seen outside of Nazi propaganda. Let it be known, though there are no swastikas on the page, this garbage is equal to Nazism and is evidence that there are some on the American right who are the equivalent of Nazis. (Actually, there is a swastika on the page, but it is on top of Mohammed's head, as if he is the one who is a Nazi.) Google put up the warning page asking if you want to proceed with viewing the site due to its hateful content. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but it certainly is vile filth and I encourage you to spread the word about this perfect example of rightwing "thought." The page has the usual suspects in the blogroll: Moldy Footballs, Jihad Watch, In the Bullpen... These people need to be exposed for who they are - losers who have to hide their insecurities behind a veil of bigotry and hatred.

Sometimes I wonder if these people were stuck in a position where they were the oppressed ones if they would react in the exact same manner. I am inclined to believe that the violence of their words would translate into violence in action if the situation were reversed. Just look at the violence that enshrouds America. It is found in our video games, our movies, our television, our pop music, and on the sports field. It is found in the notion of personal security that makes people think they need to carry guns on their person and in the support of the death penalty. We have kids killing kids, Christians killing gays, and thugs killing cops. War is part of our culture, too, as the United States has participated in more armed conflicts than any nation since colonialism ended. Violence is seen as cool.

We've already seen an increase in violence against Arab-Americans (a majority who are Christian, not Muslim.) This violence and the violence of rightwing words stems from the fact that they feel threatened. This defeatist view means the terrorists have won. They've succeeded in destroying the security in daily living that democracy once seemed to bring us. Well, I refuse to take that defeatist attitude. Dialogue and reform are the answers to terrorist hatred, not more violence. Aren't we tired of hearing "an eye for an eye?" D.T. Devareaux and his "revenge" are certainly blind. How odd it is he would choose a photo that looks like the Invisible Man for his profile.

At least he isn't calling revenge "justice."

متأسفون

A group of moderate Muslims have set up a website to apologize for the crimes of those who committed violence against Denmark and Norway in the name of their religion.

In the middle of all the mayhem surrounding the Danish cartoons controversy, a group of Arab and Muslim youth have set up this website to express their honest opinion, as a small attempt to show the world that the images shown of Arab and Muslim anger around the world are not representative of the opinions of all Arabs. We whole-heartedly apologize to the people of Denmark, Norway and all the European Union over the actions of a few, and we completely condemn all forms of vandalism and incitement to violence that the Arab and Muslim world have witnessed. We hope that this sad episode will not tarnish the great friendship that our peoples have fostered over decades.

The problem with media representation of such issues tends to be that the media only picks up the loudest voices, ignoring the rational ones that do not generate as much noise. Voices that seek tolerance, dialogue and understanding are always drowned out by the more sensationalist loud calls, giving viewers the impression that these views are representative of all the Arab public’s view. This website is a modest attempt at redressing this wrong. We would appreciate it if you could forward the word to as many of your friends as possible.

It's interesting that totally innocent people have to apologize for crimes committed by their countrymen, and it's sad to see that some people in the guestbook refuse to accept the apology (one guy even signed in as "MuhammedSUX." What a jerk.) I read that the same 200 people who burnt down the embassy in Syria took buses and did the same to Lebanon. Sigh...

HT: Aladdin's Rant

Album of the Year!

Congrats to U2! Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song, and Best Rock Performance by Duo or Group. Don't forget Veritgo won three Grammys last year, making a total of 8 for this incredible album. Steve Lillywhite also won Producer of the Year.


Also, kudos to Bruce Springsteen for saying "Bring 'em home" after his performance. Barack Obama won a Grammy, too, for Best Spoken Word Album for his "Dreams From My Father."

In other politics meets Grammy news, Burt Bacharach said: "I've never seen times like we've got right now. I'm really upset. This is the future I'm leaving behind for these kids, and I'm concerned. I think we've really made a mess of it. If the president had just gotten up and said, 'I made a mistake. I take full blame for it. There are no weapons of mass destruction; our information was wrong. Bear with me and we'll get through this together.' But to be stonewalled -- " Bacharach shook his head. "I never like to be lied to by a girlfriend or an agent. And certainly not the president of the United States."

Other than those things, politics pretty much stayed out of it- no Abramoff jokes last night.

Update: Eugene Robinson at WaPo talks about Kanyne and about American Idol here. Rox Politix adds to the American Idol discussion here.

Modernizing our way of thinking

Turning Un-Japanese

Donald Richie has been living in Japan for half a century. The American writer, translator and film scholar has spent most of that time explaining Japan to the English-speaking world. But lately he's found himself, somewhat disconcertingly, in an entirely new role—as an interpreter of Japan to the Japanese.

The Tokyo university students who attend his lectures on the great postwar filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu no longer understand the world portrayed in the 1953 classic "Tokyo Story." They don't know anything about the family system because the family system doesn't exist anymore," says Richie. "So I have to reconstruct it for them." They can still understand the traditional, intricately polite version of Japanese used in the movies, but that language sounds alien, as if it comes from a "vanished" world, he says...What I have found, instead, is another prosperous and modern Western country with some interesting quirks—an Asian nation that would not feel out of place if it were suddenly dropped inside the borders of Europe.

From signs in English to immigrant store owners to the culture of entrepreneurship, what we see here is a society that has been willing to modernize and adapt to the changing times to become a prosperous nation.

Thank God cultures change over time, for if they did not, the United States would still subjugate their woman, have slavery, and work on weekends. Sure, there are great elements of culture that are lost in the process, but for the most part, modernization has improved our lives. We don't have to worry about being arrested for not going to church on Sunday or for drawing negative pictures of Bush (what's that clicking in my phone?) Our standard of living is growing. Aside from the glaring inequalities in our society, we are much better off than most of the world.

Japan was once a warrior nation, withdrawn in itself with an over zealous notion of honor. Indeed, the culture had some very brutal notions of honor, from hari kari to kamakazees, who were the first suicide bombers. (That's right, folks! It isn't a Muslim invention!) But, you know what? Japan discarded that brutal violence and chose to modernize itself for progress.

Why can't the Muslim world do the same?

This is the struggle the Muslim world faces as it confronts the modern world. It isn't Westernization that is the problem - it is modernization. All societies struggle with it. One only has to look at the rabid Christian right in this country to find it exists everywhere. Remember, too, the Christian Church also opposed democracy, secularism, and modernity until the 18th century. Reason and freedom of thought were deemed to be putting man as the equal of God. Had a cartoon depicted Jesus in a profane manner, the artist would have been thrown in jail. Most of us have grown up a bit since then.

See, with Islam, the problem with freedom of thought began during the Sunni/Shia schism. For a time, there was a period of chaos called fitna. Throughout the long history of occupation that the Arab world has struggled through, rulers would make up interpretations of the Quran to subjugate their masses, which is how the fundamentalist disdain for Reason took root. For many traditionalist Muslims, individualism opens the door to selfishness, a denial of God, and, once again, fitna.

In a way, this idea makes some sense. Socrates rightfully predicted that excessive individualism would lead to the downfall of Athenian democracy. Without a sense of community, a society cannot hold itself together. However, extremist views are called that for a reason. There can be no progress without individual thought. Modernization requires secularization, but secularization does not mean a denial of God. Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.

For the record, in Japan, modernization began with economic reforms, namely the unification of currency, banking, stock exchanges, and modern economic institutions. Without the basic structures in place, democracy cannot work correctly. Unfortunately, the Arab world is having democracy shoved down its throat before it has the institutions to sustain it.

Winter in Central Park

A toon for a toon

Iranian paper launches Holocaust cartoon competition

Iran’s biggest-selling newspaper has waded into the Muhammad controversy by launching a competition to find the 12 "best" cartoons about the Holocaust.

Farid Mortazavi, graphics editor for Tehran's Hamshahri newspaper, said that the deliberately inflammatory contest would test out how committed Europeans were to the concept of freedom of expression.

I guarantee Europeans aren't going to be going around burning down embassies and acting like complete savages.

Again, it is one thing to condemn the images, for they certainly were offensive and highly inappropriate. It is another thing to commit acts of war in response to those images.

King Murderer

Can the President Order a Killing on U.S. Soil?

In the latest twist in the debate over presidential powers, a Justice Department official suggested that in certain circumstances, the president might have the power to order the killing of terrorist suspects inside the United States. Steven Bradbury, acting head of the department's Office of Legal Counsel, went to a closed-door Senate intelligence committee meeting last week to defend President George W. Bush's surveillance program. During the briefing, said administration and Capitol Hill officials (who declined to be identified because the session was private), California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein asked Bradbury questions about the extent of presidential powers to fight Al Qaeda; could Bush, for instance, order the killing of a Qaeda suspect known to be on U.S. soil? Bradbury replied that he believed Bush could indeed do this, at least in certain circumstances.

What ever happened to due process? I can hear it now - oops, wrong guy, my bad.

Because this president thinks he is above the law (THE LAW IS THERE FOR EVERYONE TO FOLLOW,) Senators are now considering a constitutional amendment to limit the war powers of the President. If they had done their jobs in the first place, they wouldn't need to consider such amendments. See there's a little thing called Article I that gives Congress the following war powers:

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

And what does the Constitution say about the President's war powers?

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States

That's it. Murder, wiretapping, torture, and Gitmo are not there.

Congress is not fulfilling its duty by authorizing the President to use force at his will. As a result, we have these gross abuses of power so serious that we are discussing the right to murder people who are SUSPECTED of terrorism, no due process needed.

Has World War IV begun?

The streets are capsizing in the Muslim world tonight. Destroying an embassy is a cause to declare war on a country. Who knew something as stupid as a cartoon could potentially lead to war? Westerners are being kidnapped and there are calls for blood from the Muslim world, and the governments are sitting back and doing nothing about it.

The easy, emotional response would be to say bomb the hell out of them, wouldn't it? Yet rationality tells us to be calm, to use reason in our decisions, to not let emotion rule. An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. Anger, my friends and enemies, is an emotion to which we cannot let ourselves succumb. It's a shame that we seem to be destined to forever live the same day over and over again. (9/11- To say "never forget" goes against the integral principles of Christianity, for the most paramount tenet of Christ's message is unconditional forgiveness.)

What we have here is a fundamental misunderstanding of democracy by the Muslim world. The very heart of the issue is free and independent media, which is vital to a healthy, stable democracy. The rioters can't seem to grasp the fact that governments are not supposed to intervene in media affairs (nor can bushie, for that matter.) I suppose when you've let yourself live under a thousand years of authoritarian rule, you tend to lose your sense of control over your own life, and democracy is an abstract concept too difficult to understand. However, it is quite disturbing that one of the most basic aspects of it is not understood in a culture where democracy is being imposed by the most powerful nation on Earth. It leaves one to wonder if democracy can exist in that part of the world.

In principle, political Islam and democracy are quite compatible. To say otherwise would be to say that all revealed religions are incompatible, as they are all authoritarian by nature, adhere to a strict dogma, and perhaps most importantly, none of them believes that reason can bring one closer to God, as the rules are already set and published in a holy book of some sort. Catholics, for example, are supposed to give the Pope supreme authority. The Vatican is a dictatorship by definition, yet Catholics sometimes feel outraged when it is described as such. Protestants also have their own form of hierarchy, as do Jews.

At the very heart of the matter is how much control we have over our lives. In Islam, the concept of taqdeer is one that has been fiercely debated by Muslim scholars for centuries. Taqdeer is the concept of predestination. If you will recall, the concept has been debated by Christian scholars for centuries based on the idea of original sin. Personally, I think the concept of predestination is something not debatable. If things are predetermined, then it doesn't matter what you do on Earth, and no amount of blabbering is going to change that, right? Predestination means that freedom cannot exist, for no choice in life is going to change the fact that the end is already determined for the individual. Given that, one might as well have democracy, right?

What is freedom, anyway? It is not the meaningless concept that bushie throws around on every whim. Freedom in critical thought (what used to be called philosophy) is something to be debated. Can we ever be truly free? Tolstoy's concept of freedom had to do with doing as one wishes without constraint, something Pierre was trying to find. (I mention his idea because what we are getting at is war, this war that we are fighting and we are about to fight.) Later philosophers took it further to debate the whole idea of free will. Are we free from our will? The idea that man has no control over his affairs is a concept created by powermongering dictators. In the Muslim world, it was created as political propaganda, proof that the political decisions made today can impact the planet for eternity.

What this boils down to is moral responsibility. Without free will, there can be no moral responsiblity, something that seems to be lacking in 21st century Islam (and American Evangelicalism.) Listen, you rioters. You are losing supporters by the hour. Don't come whining to us when the bombs rain on Damascus, because somewhere deep within our liberal hearts may be a bit of the feeling of justice. (This is not the same thing as supporting a war.) You want to act like you have no moral responsibility and destroy everything in sight? You get what you give, you know.

The Arab world is due for an Enlightenment. I refuse to let Samuel Huntington win.

Alan Shore nails another one

I missed this episode with this excellent diatribe against the apathy Americans have toward the Iraq war and the way we are treating our soldiers. What it is NOT is an anti-war statement. Oh, and you get to watch James Spader, which is nearly as good as the content itself. I don't watch much television, but I have to believe that Boston Legal is the best show on. I began watching it this season because I felt like vegging in front of the television one Tuesday night, and it was the only thing that seemed to be worthy of watching. Now I'm hooked. The acting is excellent, the plots intriguing, and the politics liberal. It must tie righties in knots. And did I mention James Spader?

Please watch the video before attacking.

HT: Blogging for Freedom

Local climate change

I nearly bought hamburgers to grill today, only I remembered it is February and not grilling season. 65 degrees - short sleeve temps. This winter has been incredibly warm, and mild is not the word for it. I am sitting outside on the porch at 7pm with short sleeves drinking a beer and wondering what is wrong with the world (and wishing I had purchased those burgers, as the glorious smell of charcoal and lighter fluid fills the February spring air.)

Honestly, I have to laugh when rightwingers say there is no global warming, and sensible rightwingers should laugh, too, for they know that global warming is occurring. The debate is not its existence, but how much humans are contributing to it. The Earth has undergone climate change many times in its long history, an undisputable fact, but human beings have never had such a capacity to accelerate it as they do now.

Maybe we aren't contibuting as much as some people say. Does this mean we should stop all science and let corporations pollute the hell out of the air because it might not matter? That would be foolish passivity akin to letting Iran produce nuclear weapons or appeasing ruthless dictators. The truth is, we don't know the extent of human impingement on the change, so why should we take the risk in doing nothing? Followers of the Market god, however, are not inclined to look into the future, as they believe in one narrow concept - quarterly Growth. All is right in the world if there is Growth. Enough! There will be no Growth when humans are struggling just to survive on a planet that is too hot or too cold to live on.

As Dan Quayle so wisely said, "It isn't pollution that is harming our environment, it's the impurities in our air and water that's doing it."

Global climate change - it ain't just a myth, folks.

My job is to presidate!

Watch this hillarious State of the Union video.

On Palestine, Part 3

Palestinians want Hamas reform - poll

Nearly three-quarters of Palestinians want the newly elected Hamas movement to drop its call for the destruction of Israel.

This came in an opinion poll released by the Ram Allah-based Near East Consulting Institute on Monday.

The survey also found that 84% of those surveyed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip want a peace agreement with Israel while 86% want Mahmoud Abbas, the moderate Palestinian Authority president, to remain in his post.

Well now, isn't this clear evidence that Palestinians did NOT vote for terror, as I am still seeing on wingnut websites?

All political ribbing aside, the poll is good news on several fronts. First of all, it provides rational politicians with concrete evidence that Palestinians voted for Hamas as a protest vote, which may help them in their decisions on whether or not to withdraw aid. Secondly, it will serve as a pressure force against Hamas to moderate. Democracy in Palestine does not operate in a vacuum. The social structure is there, as there are civil society institutions to advocate policy and to serve as watchdogs on the government. Additionally, Hamas isn't the only militant game in town. They do have to listen to their constituents, lest a factional war break out in the Palestinian territories, unlikely but possible if extremism tries to rule. Thirdly, it lends legitimacy to the Hamas government, which is vital to the stability of the political system, and it also gives reason for Abbas to stay in power, which is good for the peace process.

Like I said before, the vote was not a vote for Hamas, but one against Fatah. The proof is in the numbers.

State of the Nation?

Somewhat lost in all of the Misstate of the Disunion soapbox are the results of a special election held in Loudoun County, Virginia yesterday. Democrat Mark Herring easily defeated Republican Mick Staton for a state senate seat in a heavily Republican area. It remains to be seen what this means on a national level, but it is something to keep in mind as we plunge toward November.

UPDATE: Let me add a reason it might matter, for those of you who think it does not. (Courtesy of the Bulldog Manifesto):

Section 603 of the United States House Rules provides for the inception of impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives “by charges transmitted from the legislature of a State.”

Section 603 states, inter alia:

”Inception of impeachment proceedings in the House.>> House of Representatives there are various methods of setting an impeachment in motion: by charges made on the floor on the responsibility of a Member or Delegate (II, 1303; III, 2342, 2400, 2469; VI, 525, 526, 528, 535, 536); by charges preferred by a memorial, which is usually referred to a committee for examination (III, 2364, 2491, 2494, 2496, 2499, 2515; VI, 543); or by a resolution dropped in the hopper by a Member and referred to a committee (Apr. 15, 1970, p. 11941-42; Oct. 23, 1973, p. 34873); by a message from the President (III, 2294, 2319; VI, 498); by charges transmitted from the legislature of a State (III, 2469) or Territory (III, 2487) or from a grand jury (III, 2488); or from facts developed and reported by an investigating committee of the House (III, 2399, 2444).”

If state legislatures could change hands, we may have an interesting 2007.