Month: November 2004

On whiting out . . . .

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Critical action issue! Little Rock has renamed part of a street named "Confederate Blvd." as "Springer Blvd." in order to honor "black community leader Horace Springer and his family…."  Michelle Malkin is righteously pissed.  Why is she pissed?  Well, it has something to do with Little Rock’s decision to "white out" history.  It also has … Read more

It goes almost without saying ….

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…. That, whatever standard you wish to apply, the Palestinians have been among the worst-led people on the planet.  What blame for this should fall upon the Palestinian people — and I’d say quite a lot — is perhaps open to question.  Parsing guilt, after all, is for distant God; we merely dabble in approximations, … Read more

TV Fascinating? Or am I Ill?

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I played in a volleyball tournament Saturday and Sunday (second place, thanks for asking). I usually feel a bit run down after a big tournament, so when I plopped down on the couch after work I didn’t think anything was wrong. I went shopping for food, ate some mushroom-cheese soup and then watched 4 hours … Read more

Slippery Slope or Up in Smoke?

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SCOTUS is considering Ashcroft v. Raich, 03-1454 today and it’s expected to bring some, er, high drama. Essentially the question at hand is whether Federal law (in particular, the Controlled Substances Act) trumps state laws allowing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. The drama is best illustrated by the case of Raich’s co-plaintiff (lawyers, … Read more

NewsFlash: War Against Islamic Terrorists NOT All That Parallel to Cold War

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OK so this is a few days old already, but I’ve been busy eating.

The Defense Strategic Board report "Stratetic Communication" (pdf file) is now on their website. It was discussed a few days ago in the NYTimes, where the focus was on how the US is "failing in its efforts to explain the nation’s diplomatic and military actions to the Muslim world," but it also drew distinct differences between the current conflict against radical Islamist ideology and the Cold War:

"In stark contrast to the cold war, the United States today is not seeking to contain a threatening state empire, but rather seeking to convert a broad movement within Islamic civilization to accept the value structure of Western Modernity – an agenda hidden within the official rubric of a ‘War on Terrorism,’ " the report states.

"Today we reflexively compare Muslim ‘masses’ to those oppressed under Soviet rule," the report adds. "This is a strategic mistake. There is no yearning-to-be-liberated-by-the-U.S. groundswell among Muslim societies – except to be liberated perhaps from what they see as apostate tyrannies that the U.S. so determinedly promotes and defends."

The report says that "Muslims do not ‘hate our freedom,’ but rather they hate our policies," adding that "when American public diplomacy talks about bringing democracy to Islamic societies, this is seen as no more than self-serving hypocrisy." (emphasis mine)

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Juan Cole Threatened with Libel Suit by MEMRI

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Via Matthew Yglesias~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has threatened to sue Professor Juan Cole if he doesn’t retract recent comments he’s made about the organization. [President of MEMRI] Colonel [Yigal] Carmon’s letter makes three charges: 1) that I alleged that MEMRI receives $60 million a year for its operations. 2) That I … Read more

More on the Ukraine

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Bush’s policy team took the proper stance on the Ukraine election despite the fact that stance put it in opposition to Russia’s Putin–a man whose help Bush is likely to need in the future: Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday the United States cannot accept the results of elections in Ukraine, which the opposition … Read more

Ukraine

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If anyone is interested in the very tense situation going on regarding the vote in the Ukraine, I would suggest that Fistful of Euros is an excellent source for updates.

A good point, sort of…

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I love reading Marginal Revolutions. They always discuss interesting things in interesting ways. Today Alex has a description of medical costs not spiraling out of control: Laser eye surgery has the highest patient satisfaction ratings of any surgery, it has been performed more than 3 million times in the past decade, it is new, it … Read more

Caveat Emptor: Can Buying This Home Cost You Your Rights?

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The branch of the homebuilding company, Mercedes Homes, operating in Brevard County Florida, writes into the fine print of their contracts that customers cannot complain about inferior construction to their neighbors. They actually filed a lawsuit against one woman for doing so:

Jay Ann Contardi couldn’t imagine a problem any worse than the deluge of rainwater pouring into her leaking home. That is, until she ran afoul of the aggressive lawyers representing her builder, Mercedes Homes.

"It has changed my life. I’m afraid to talk to my neighbors. I’m afraid to walk my daughter to the bus stop. I’m afraid to talk to you right now," she told NewsChannel 2 reporter Dan Billow.

She’s not the only one. Other Mercedes homeowners asked us to protect their identities.

"I feel like I’m in a police state. I can’t do anything. I have no avenues. I have nowhere to turn," one homeowner said. That’s what it feels like when you’re sued for talking to your neighbor.

In the company’s plush corporate offices, executives hatched a plan to make buyers sign away their First Amendment rights.

"It’s there in black and white. The customer should read his or her contract thoroughly before they enter into it," said Patrick Roche, Mercedes Attorney.

When you buy a Mercedes home, the fine print says you can’t complain to your neighbors, call the news media or even carry a picket sign, even if your new quarter-million dollar home leaks through the roof, walls and windows.

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Rather Stepping Down

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I can hear the champagne corks popping now. Dan Rather announced Tuesday that he will step down as anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News in March, 24 years after his first broadcast in that position. Rather will continue to work full-time at CBS News as a correspondent for both editions of 60 … Read more

Nothing They Do Surprises Me Any More.

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From the Washington Post: “Republican budget writers say they may have found a way to cut the federal deficit even if they borrow hundreds of billions more to overhaul the Social Security system: Don’t count all that new borrowing. As they lay the groundwork for what will probably be a controversial fight over Social Security, … Read more

MoMA Reborn: The Happy Hangover Review

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The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has reopened in midtown Manhattan and the reviews are in. They range from unlearned and dully dismissive (see New York Post columnist Gersh Kuntzman in Newsweek) to fawning and overcongratulatory (see New York Times art critic, Holland Cotter’s love letter). In other words, what you’d expect.

What I didn’t expect (my personal taste in museums running toward industrial and rough around the edges) was to be so charmed by the new building (by famed Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi). From what I had heard, I expected to hate it. Artnet columnist and all around crumudgeon Charlie Finch had me expecting something terribly cold and corporate:

Sitting in the spacious sixth-floor atrium of the brave new Museum of Modern Art, listening to a dentefricial Ron Lauder praise himself and his wealthy colleagues, one remembers a more intimate MoMA where working class people brought a sandwich in a brown bag and a book of poems, or Shakespeare, to rest and bask in the temple of art.

That world, and that ethos, are gone forever. Even 9/11 could not bring them back, at least not in midtown Manhattan. Looking at Rosenquist’s F-111 like an altarpiece, one can hear the little blonde girl quoting Pogo, "We have met the enemy, and it is us."

Looking at Taniguchisan’s sterile environment, like a larger version of the interiors at MoMA QNS, one thinks of the auditorium scenes in films such as Charly or 1984. The individual is sucked out of existence in this matrix; the individual artist disappears in the wake of the exchange value of the art object.

We had a totally different experience at the opening we attended last night (the fiance and I). It may have been the flowing cocktails, but we had a great time and found the new building wonderous.

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Another Silly Article On Liberal Professors

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Academics are, on the whole, more liberal than the population at large. I would be interested to know why this is so, and what effects, if any, it has. I don’t usually find conservative reporting on this subject illuminating, since it generally doesn’t go beyond reporting anecdotes which, while bad, are not obviously more than occasional episodes of the sort that one would expect, human nature being what it is. (Nor is it obvious to me that a disproportionate number of cases of professorial bad behavior involve politics: I knew a professor once who spent the better part of a class making fun of a student for not drinking beer at parties. Really.) It is amusing to see conservatives responding with the sort of horrified cries of victimhood that they disapprove of in other contexts, e.g. those involving racism and sexism; but it’s not particularly enlightening.

An article by John Fund looked as though it might be an exception: it actually cites studies and not just anecdotes, for instance. But on closer examination it’s not. To start with, the studies themselves don’t seem to prove much. Of the three Fund cites, two just claim that a disproportionate number of professors are Democrats, which says little about why this is so or what effects it has. But a third claims to do more. Here’s how Fund describes it:

“A forthcoming study by Stanley Rothman of Smith College looked at a random sample of more than 1,600 undergraduate faculty members from 183 institutions of higher learning. He found that across all faculty departments, including business and engineering, academics were over five times as likely to be liberals as conservatives.

Mr. Rothman used statistical analysis to determine what factors explained how academics ended up working at elite universities. Marital status, sexual orientation and race didn’t play a statistically significant role. Academic excellence, as measured by papers published and awards conferred, did. But the next best predictor was whether the professor was a liberal. To critics that argue his methodology is flawed, Mr. Rothman points out that he used the same research tools long used in courts by liberal faculty members to prove race and sex bias at universities. Liberals criticizing his methods may find themselves hoist by their own petard.”

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Child Malnutrition Rising in Iraq

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If I had a dollar for each time, in response to arguing that the innocent Iraqis who’ve died in this war deserved a better solution to the problem of Hussein, I was told about the number of children dying of malnutrition under Hussein’s regime (who presumedly were now better off since we invaded), I’d, well, … Read more

The Eagle Platform

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One of my on-line acquaintances is developing what he calls the "Eagle Platform": a political platform which is not closely tied to either current political party in US politics, though it draws from a slightly conservative and more strongly libertarian bent. It provides an excellent starting point for useful political conversation and can be found … Read more

Solution for a Nation Drowning in Debt? A Boat, of Course.

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hat tip to constant reader wilfred for this item
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In our house, when money’s tight, we consider which luxuries we normally enjoy that we can do without. We eat out less often. We take a cheaper vacation than the one we had hoped for. We keep on walking past Century 21*, pretending it’s not there.

When the Federal government finds itself in the same position, however, it decides it’s time for the taxpayers to buy the president a yacht.

The Senate voted 65-30 for the legislation late on Saturday that sets aside funds for a range of priorities including a presidential yacht, foreign aid and energy.

OK, so it’s only $2 million dollars to buy back the U.S.S. Sequoia which was sold three decades ago. (A price distressing the current owners, who are claiming it’s now worth $9.8 million.) But, come on, what else would we spend that $2 million on, if not a boat for the Bushes. I mean how else do we expect them to live in the style they’re accustomed to, if we deny them this basic necessity? But that’s not the ultimate insult. The ultimate insult is that this pork-ladden monster** is something these jokers are proud of.

"I’m very proud of the fact that we held the line and made Congress make choices and set priorities, because it follows our philosophy," Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said in House debate.

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Transparent Government: A Suggestion

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Josh Marshall and others have reported on something that someone tried to slip into an appropriations bill while no one was looking: “At the last minute, Republican leaders tried to slip in a provision that would give certain committee chairman and their staffers unlimited access to any American’s tax return, with none of the standard … Read more

Wow. Just Wow.

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Via TAPPED and a host of other sites: the Washington Post published a piece yesterday on the Bush administration’s current thinking about tax reform. The good news is that it does not seem that they’ll go for a flat tax or a sales tax. The bad news is what they’re proposing instead: Pamela F. Olson, … Read more

P0rn-free Open Thread

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Po-o-o-o-orn Free…as free as the wind…er…um…u-h-hh, yeah. My co-bloggers are all off doing very important top secret work for the government, so I’m opening up a thread for what ails and/or cures ya. One possible topic: In the extremely petty, and not even remotely funny corner of why I’m embarassed to be a New Yorker … Read more

Insert Bad Porn Pun Here

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Porn’s back in the news. This surprised me a bit, because I assumed with the exit of Ashcroft, we’d refocus on more serious threats to the nation, but apparently pornography poses a public health risk that requires Congress’s attention: Comparing pornography to heroin, researchers are calling on Congress to finance studies on “porn addiction” and … Read more

Losing (and Regaining) My Religion

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I’ve had a rollercoaster relationship with God my whole life. At times I’ve been what one would call a "devout" fundamentalist; at other times I’ve been downright agnostic. Watching an episode of "Nip/Tuck" the other day (a truly godless show if ever there was one), I found myself thinking I would have to consider atheism in order to reconcile what appeared to be contradictions in what I understand/believe about the universe.

Two recent commentaries have helped me regain my comfort with my faith, however. Both express the idea that belief systems are there to help you deal, not hurt you. That embracing your belief system can improve your life, not limit it, even intellectually.

One of the commentaries was by Harvey Fierstein on the PBS program "In the Life" :

I operate under a complicated belief system pretty much of my own device which I base on scientific laws and humanistic principles. And, all in all, it works for me. I tell you this not to seek converts or to invite any discussion of any specific religion. I just want you to know that my beliefs might seem just as silly to you as yours do to me. And that’s cool. (pdf file)

Harvey is a true Mensch in every sense of the word. If you don’t know him, I’d highly recommend any of those commentaries.

The second commentary appears in today’s New York Times. The fabulous Irshad Manji expresses dismay at how when travelling across Europe she was repeatedly asked "Why does an independent-minded woman care about God? Why do you need religion at all?" She explains in a very thoughtful way, incorporating what she sees as a hypocrisy in those questions. In a nutshell, she feels that widespread secularism is Europe’s response to the abuses of religion over the centuries. It’s primarily a defensive position. She highlights how this defensive position is feeding much of the resistence to bringing Turkey into the EU, and in doing so she rather cleverly brings us back to an eye-opening conclusion:

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White Flag Not Optional?

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Press and Valentino (two Dartmouth professors of government) argue in the NYTimes today that our twin goals of planting democracy in Iraq and (in order to do so) defeating the Iraqi insurgency are, most likely, mutually exclusive. In a nutshell, they argue that historically, "occupying" forces have almost never beaten insurgencies without resorting to unrestrained brutality. The one recent "success" in doing so (the British defeat of the Malaya insurgency) represented a non-native (i.e., unsupported by the locals) and relatively small insurgent force.

This is why the history of counterinsurgency warfare is a tale of failure. Since World War II, powerful armies have fought seven major counterinsurgency wars: France in Indochina from 1945 to 1954, the British in Malaya from 1948 to 1960, the French in Algeria in the 1950’s, the United States in Vietnam, the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, Israel in the occupied territories and Russia in Chechnya. Of these seven, four were outright failures, two grind on with little hope of success, and only one – the British effort in Malaya – was a clear success.

Many counterinsurgency theorists have tried to model operations on the British effort in Malaya, particularly the emphasis on winning hearts and minds of the local population through public improvements. They have not succeeded. Victory in Malaysia, it appears in retrospect, had less to do with British tactical innovations than with the weaknesses and isolation of the insurgents. The guerrillas were not ethnic Malays; they were recruited almost exclusively from an isolated group of Chinese refugees. The guerrillas never gained the support of a sizable share of the Malaysians. Nevertheless, it took the British 12 years to defeat them, and London ended up granting independence to the colony in the midst of the rebellion.

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Absolute Power (and I’m not talking Vodka)

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Ethical Schmethical. Rallying around their embattled leader, House Republicans yesterday moved to change the House rules to allow Tom (the rules do not apply to me) DeLay to continue on as Leader even if he’s indicted: The conservative Texas Republican was reconfirmed to his post by House GOP members Tuesday without objection, despite an ongoing … Read more

Images, Reality and Video

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I had read several accounts of the fatal shooting of an unarmed, wounded Iraqi in the Fallujah mosque before I had seen the video. I understood that the US Marine in question had been wounded in his face the day before and that another man in his unit had been killed by the booby-trapped body of an insurgent.

Based on this information I identified with the US Marine and told myself, in his shoes I would have very likely done the same thing; not taken any chances that this Iraqi was also booby-trapped.

His words reveal his mind at the time:

"He’s (expletive) faking he’s dead!"

"Yeah, he’s breathing," another marine is heard saying.

"He’s faking he’s (expletive) dead!" the first marine says.

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NukeWatch: Russia

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Russia, scarcely able to secure its existing nuclear arsenal, is continuing its move to acquire new nuclear weapons.  Employing his brand of inimitable Cold War crypto-speak, Putin offered the following details: "I am sure that in the near future weapons will appear… which other nuclear powers do not and will not possess,” he said. Comforting.  … Read more

Force Feeding

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Via a diary on Kos

All the while I’ve been fretting about what type of democracy we’d leave in Iraq, behind the scenes it appears much bigger social engineering has been going on.

Under the umbrella of "Recognizing the demonstrated interest of the Iraqi Governing Council for Iraq to become a full member in the international trading system, known as the World Trade Organization, and the desirability of adopting modern intellectual property standards" (pdf file), back in April 2004 Bremer inserted into Iraqi law language that some are claiming "prevents [Iraqi] farmers from saving their seeds and effectively hands over the seed market to transnational corporations."

According to a report by GRAIN* and Focus on the Global South:

The new law is presented as being necessary to ensure the supply of good quality seeds in Iraq and to facilitate Iraq’s accession to the WTO. What it will actually do is facilitate the penetration of Iraqi agriculture by the likes of Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer and Dow Chemical – the corporate giants that control seed trade across the globe. Eliminating competition from farmers is a prerequisite for these companies to open up operations in Iraq, which the new law has achieved. Taking over the first step in the food chain is their next move.

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Nuclear Iran… Again

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Iran is playing rope-a-dope with the Europeans again. They recently sort of agreed to an enrichment freeze as the US threatens to submit the issue to the Security Council (BTW, what kind of pathetic threat is that?) It seems to me that the proposed nuclear deal is an exact replay of the Agreed Framework which … Read more

Democrats on Foreign Policy

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I know this seems like an unusually dead horse to bother beating, but American foreign policy would be best served by having two parties both strong on national security so we can adequately debate the best course forward on the large number of serious international issues which are before us. On that note, Matthew Yglesias … Read more

Don’t Let the Door Hit You…

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OK, so it’s not unexpected or even untraditional, but more folks are resigning from the Bush cabinet, and that means it’s time to speculate on replacements. RedState is reporting that Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Secretary of State Colin Powell are both resigning. Last week Tacitus regular Macallan had recommended making John Kerry the new … Read more

Open Thread

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Someone ask for an open thread? Here’s one topic (if you don’t have one yourself): Number of Death Sentences Hits 30-Year Low. No points for suggesting it’s because Bush is no longer Governor of Texas. Here are some stats though: Since 1977, 885 inmates were executed through 2003 by 32 states and the Federal Bureau … Read more

A Brief Digression

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I write not to disagree with the substance of this post by Edward regarding the growth of religiously-inspired textbook rewrites.  Indeed, I’m no fan of folks who conflate their personal religious views with science.  But I do take exception to the implication that such folks, however foolish or ill-intentioned, are the moral equivalent of the … Read more