Sebastian

European Security Strategy

by

Wretchard at the BelmontClub points out a number of interesting things about the proposed European Security Strategy as outlined by the Barcelona Report. I’m afraid I don’t have time to comment on all of them right now, but I note two things. First, its purpose: Over the last few years, the European Union has been … Read more

Social Security and Budgets

by

There have been recent discussions about Bush’s proposed budget (see here or here for instance.) There seems to be some major freaking out about the transition cost of Bush’s Social Security Plan. But as Arnold Kling points out the transition cost is not a new government liability. It is simply moving an off-book debt onto … Read more

Gerrymandering

by

Both Kevin Drum and Matthew Yglesias are talking about a subject that we can agree on–gerrymandering sucks!

Kevin’s idea to fix it is a bit wacky, and Matthew’s fix is a radical reform from the American district concept (For a look at what his ballot could look like in California see under the extended entry something I shamelessly stole from commenter “Bumperstickerist”).

My concept is shared by some other people in a few of the comments. Take a fairly simple computer program and feed it only a very few variables. Make compactness an important variable or maybe general fit to county lines. Feed it only population data, no race data, no party affiliation data, no religious data, no economic data. Make the program simple enough that it can be replicated on any home computer. Use publically available census data. After the first decade draw the lines with a slight weighting to keeping the district close to its original boundary. That’s it. No safe districts based on gerrymandering.

Read more

Unlikely Predictions

by

Short post, then off to volleyball. I was talking with my sister a couple of days ago. She reminded me of something that had been rattling around in the back of my head. This election, no really knows who the ‘likely voters’ are. I’m not a big fan of the way moment-to-moment polls drive the … Read more

Iraqi Civil War

by

It may be too strongly worded to call what is going on in Iraq a ‘civil war’. But while using that term, Harry has an excellent discussion of what is going on in Iraq at a strategic level. I strongly encourage you to read it all, but since I know some of you won’t, here … Read more

Let’s Revist the Topic of Liberal Media Bias

by

Today, all I can say is wow! From ABCNews: Two of the document experts hired by CBS News say the network ignored concerns they raised prior to the broadcast of a report citing documents that questioned George W. Bush’s service in the National Guard during the Vietnam War. … Emily Will, a veteran document examiner … Read more

Putin and Civil Rights

by

Russia provides a troubling example. This is what it really looks like when a country’s leader decides to use terrorism as an excuse to destroy liberty and democratic government. Putin is using the need for a response against terrorism as an excuse to revamp the structure of local government, and move from direct election of … Read more

Kaboom

by

Whew, just when I was worried that things were going to be boring, a mushroom cloud appears of North Korea. We are being assured that this wasn’t a nuclear weapons test for whatever that is worth. But it obviously was not just an accident either. It took place on the anniversary of North Korea’s founding. … Read more

Forged Anti-Bush Documents and Media Responsibility

by

I can’t add anything definitive on the possibility that CBS News has torpedoed its credibility by showcasing forged documents in a suspiciously partisan fashion. The factual issues are dealt with quite well at Powerline, here, here and here as well as mainstream media sources, here, here and here. Especially interesting is this from the family … Read more

The Problem with Education Reforms

by

Via JoanneJacobs I see this very insightful post on education reform. The key paragraphs are: It turns out, according to the Times, that the law’s system for labeling schools failing (based as it is on the performance of various subgroups at each school) has managed to place thousands of schools in middle-class neighborhoods on “failing” … Read more

Culture and the War

by

One of the key stereotypes about Republicans and Democrats is that modern Republicans put too much trust in the military and modern Democrats too little. Despite my dislike for Kerry, I am one for nuance. I think that a truer statement would be that Republicans emphasize the benefits of military action while sometimes downplaying the … Read more

Miller Speech

by

I don’t normally watch political speechs live, and at each convention it appears that I watch the worst–which certainly isn’t positive reinforcement to change my ways. Yesterday I watched Miller’s speech. I agree with Andrew Sullivan that Miller is too angry and at the wrong people. He appears to confuse opponents with enemies: No one … Read more

The System of Laws

by

I’ve been engaged in quite a few discussions about various facets of the legal system lately. Since ideas make better sense within a context, I think it would be a good idea to discuss my understanding of how the general system of creating laws works (or maybe ought to work) in the United States. I … Read more

Minor Convention Query

by

I’ve just read the most interesting thing about the choice of New York for the Republican convention: After 9/11, I recall Guiliani (or possibly Bloomberg) asking both parties to hold their conventions in New York. The idea was to show the world that New York was NOT crippled by the attack, that all Americans stood … Read more

French Hostages

by

Cnn reports that two French journalists have been kidnapped with the terrorist group demanding that France abandon its ban on the hijab in schools. I’ll admit that this story initially engaged the bitterly ironic side of me that thought “The silly French can’t even surrender properly.” My next thought was that this proves that you … Read more

Just for Fun

by

I’ve received an email (from someone who will remain anonymous for reasons which should become obvious) annoyed with the popularity of a new website, The Iraq War Was Wrong Blog. The name alone explains why some of my friends might not like it. But never fear, it is really just a funny parody. I’m including … Read more

Thoughts on Vietnam

by

I don’t remember where I found this article, but it is very good. It talks about the uneasy political truce which had until recently held on the topic of Vietnam. The two most insightful thoughts in this post are: And so years ago, wearied by their own arguments as much as by the arguments of … Read more

We Must Win

by

This is an example of why we have to fight Sadr, he want to make Iraq into another Iran. This is why we have to fight Islamism, its adherents will hate us so long as we believe that killing an underage girl for engaging in sex is reprehensible. It is especially bad (if it can get any worse) because there are hints that she was killed for being raped: “She told the religious judge, Haji Rezaii, that he should punish the main perpetrators of moral corruption not the victims.” or because she pissed off the judge with her suggestion, “The judge personally pursued Ateqeh’s death sentence, beyond all normal procedures and finally gained the approval of the Supreme Court. After her execution Rezai said her punishment was not execution but he had her executed for her ‘sharp tongue’.”

This took place in the normal legal channels of Islamic fundamentalist Iran. This is what Islamist groups want us to look like. This is how Osama bin Laden wants us to treat our women if we are to avoid his condemnation for tempting Muslims away from their faith. We aren’t fighting against people who are angry at us because of captialist excesses. We are fighting against people who detest the things at the very core of Western society. What we are fighting is unfortunately much bigger than Al Qaeda. We are fighting a group of societies that spawn groups like Al Qaeda with their revolutionary Islamist ideology. To defeat the enemy we must not shy away from identifying it.

Read more

Picking At A Scab

by

Kevin Drum has discovered a rather large number of seemingly anti-Bush movies: By my count, that makes three separate movies this campaign season that are either pro-Kerry or anti-Bush: Fahrenheit 9/11 Bush’s Brain Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry Plus two more that, while not specifically anti-Bush, are certainly unsympathetic to the conservative … Read more

Who Leaked Khan’s Name?

by

Apparently it was Pakistan. The release of Mr. Khan’s name – it was made public in The New York Times on Aug. 2, citing Pakistani intelligence sources – drew criticism by some politicians, like Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, who charged that this leak might have compromised the search in Britain and … Read more

A Withdrawal Plan I Can Agree With

by

I see that Bush has announced a troop withdrawal from Europ and South Korea. This is an excellent idea that could have been implemented years ago. The troops in South Korea were positioned as a tripwire for the Cold War. South Korea is capable of defending itself against an agressive North Korea and has had large protests to get rid of the troops for decades. If we feel the need to invade North Korea, it can be done without the non-strategic tripwire installations. But frankly we wouldn’t be invading North Korea without Chinese help anyway. Far more likely is a strike against the nuclear plant.

Troops stationed in Germany have mainly been a drain to the U.S. for more than a decade. They aren’t located near the modern threats and have been the subject of much criticism for years.

Furthermore, this is a nice hint that Europe might want to consider funding a more realistic level of its own defense.

Read more

Hizbollah A Bad Model For Sadr

by

Sometimes you read something so shocking that you can’t believe the author meant what he wrote. At Crooked Timber, John Quiggin exhibits many of the most worrying aspects of leftist criticism of foreign policy here: The only remotely feasible option is to make a place for Sadr and his supporters in the political process, and … Read more

Nothing to See Here

by

According to the EU fact-finding mission there is no evidence of genocide in the Sudan. See here, here and here. After returning from western Sudan, Pieter Feith, an adviser to the EU’s foreign policy chief Javier Solana, told reporters in Brussels that “it is clear there is widespread, silent and slow killing going on, and … Read more

Failing to Report

by

This story shows a very dangerous mishandling of intelligence information, but the reporting is so awful that I can’t tell at whom I should direct my anger. Under pressure to justify the alerts in three Northeastern cities, U.S. officials confirmed a report by The New York Times that the man, Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, was … Read more

Watch that Prosecutor

by

Since Katherine isn’t around I’ll post on a topic that I’m sure she would want to draw attention to. This is worth looking at further. FORT CARSON, Colo. (AP) – Three Army commanders were granted immunity from prosecution Friday in the case of two Iraqi civilians forced to jump from a bridge. One of the … Read more

Kerry Hypes Troop Withdrawal

by

Kerry is now suggesting that if elected he will be able to engineer a significant troop withdrawal from Iraq during the next four years. I haven’t been able to find the full text of the speech, but here and here are two cites reporting on the speech. I think both headlines are misleading. He doesn’t … Read more

Specific Threats of Terrorism

by

This thought–sparked by the following headline: “Warning, Specific Targets Identified”. I’m torn about publicizing specific target warnings. Unless the plot is non-transferable for some reason, can’t the terrorist just pick another building? It will make our (correct) intelligence look stupid, and it will allow for an easier attack. But on the other hand not warning … Read more

Kerry’s Foreign Policy

by

The only thing I care about in Kerry’s Speech is foreign policy. I think that ought to be the key question in this election, and I think it is important enough to trump almost anything else. (I say almost to forstall the more outrageous but not relevant hypotheticals). I’m not as discouraged by what I … Read more

Terrorists In Iraq

by

I’m not sure if anyone other than Michael Moore is confused about the nature of the Iraqi insurgents, but today’s car bomb ought to dispell any remaining doubts about whether they are fundamentally ‘freedom fighters’ or ‘terrorists’. A suicide car bomb exploded on a busy downtown boulevard in Baqouba on Wednesday, shredding a bus full … Read more

Democrats Embrace Failed Foreign Policy

by

I’ll admit that I couldn’t stomach actually watching Jimmy Carter speak to the Convention. Reading his words in text later was bad enough. I see that Democrats have rediscovered foreign policy–it is unfortunate that they have learned so many of the wrong lessons. The most sickening thing from Carter is found in this passage: We … Read more

Icky Thoughts, Possibly Paranoid

by

WARNING: this post may be a result of hanging around with too many lawyers for too long–an experience which may have made me too quick to word-parse. We now know that Berger took whatever documents he was taking at least three separate times. One of his major defenses (as expressed through his lawyers) has been … Read more

Linked Stories

by

The Philippines agreed to withdraw its troops from Iraq in a trade for a hostage. Unlike the Spanish, who can at least suggest that their pullout is not directly linked to the terrorism which immediately preceeded it, the Philippine government explicitly caved in to terrorist demands and changed their foreign policy. “We still consider the … Read more

Judicial Interpretation

by

The gay marriage debate has rekindled my interest in a very important topic: judicial interpretation. I am a proponent of gay marriage. I think that legislatures ought to change marriage statutes to allow same-sex marriages. I believe that attempts to circumvent the legislative process by using judicial sleight-of-hand are dangerous to the process of American government, and are likely to make gay marriage an even more controversial subject than it has to be. I have written at length on the subject of judicial interpretation, most especially here , here, and here . Upon reading this article by Clayton Jones (Beware blogspot link, the entry in question is July 18, 2004.), I found an interesting classification system that might shed light on what people mean by judicial activism:

Read more

Unintended Legal Consequences

by

I have a friend who takes care of disabled children. She told me about a place called ‘Dollywood’. She told me that one nice thing about the amusement park was that they let severely disabled people in for free. Since I was tickled by the idea of a Dolly Parton theme-park, I took a look … Read more