I am Spartacus.

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A note to Kalle Lasn, editor of Adbusters Magazine.

I noted with some interest your recent editorial discussing American / Israeli relations and the reasons for same. I was remarkably impressed by how easily you were able to shrug off both Bush’s call for a Palestinian state and recent criticisms of Israel in your drive to indicate that the neocon movement was both running the the WoT and dominated by Jews, especially your dedication in determining and indicating those Jewish members of the ’50 most influential neocons in the US” (whether they would identify themselves as neocons or not). How – lucky – for you that half of them turned out to be Jewish! Why, it couldn’t have come out better if you had assembled the list deliberately!

Now, I am not myself a neoconservative, although I agree with a fair number of their policy positions. As for Judiasm… well, to echo Professor Tolkien when he was faced with a not completely dissimilar situation, “…I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.” Nevertheless, please note this symbol (regrettably made nortorious by certain other individuals dedicated to searching out hidden Jewish influence and power) –

Jude.jpg

– anyway. I find the thought of confusing people like you about just who is and who isn’t Jewish around here to be a strangely compelling one. Not to mention probably a mitzvah.

Moe

PS: Shorter Moe Lane: Kalle Lasn, Geh kak afen yam.

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Liberty, Sanctity, or Equality

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There’s no way around it. The FMA is either 1. anti-Liberty 2. anti-Sanctity or 3. anti-Equality To defend the FMA, you must own up to one of these stances. 1. Anti-Liberty In this context, anti-Liberty means anti-gay. One must believe that sexual orientation does not fall under the umbrella of the “liberty” we believe is … Read more

Meanwhile, back at the primaries…

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…Kerry won Idaho and Utah; Hawaii’s… shoot, are the polls still open for those guys? Could be. Anyway, no surprises and no insights, except that Kerry’s current glidepath doesn’t seem to have wobbled any. One week to go before the fireworks… And now, to sleep. It’s been a day.

Just to establish.

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1). I do not support a constitutional amendment defining marriage. 2). I do support the right of two consenting adults to enter into what arrangements suit them, explicitly including the ones traditionally associated with marriage (including the name). 3). I do not believe that everyone who disagrees with my stance on #2 is either a … Read more

Fools. And knaves.

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Well, Bush did it:

“Today,” Bush said, “I call for the Congress to promptly pass and send to the states for ratification an amendment to our Constitution defining and protecting marriage as a union of a man and woman, as husband and wife.”

Bush could have endorsed an Amendment that merely held that a gay marriage in one state need not be recognized as a marriage in another — an Amendment that lets the states decide. It would’ve had broad support.* (Indeed, even Rep. Barney Frank, the openly gay Massachusetts Congressman, has endorsed this approach.) Instead, Bush has endorsed an Amendment designed to prohibit the states from conducting their own affairs. Bush — the freely-spending champion of “limited” government — has decided that the federal government should now reach into the bedrooms, town halls, and churches of communities around the nation.

And so Bush feeds a narrow constituency, at the expense of the whole.

von

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Fixing some environmental damage.

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Interesting NYT article about some of the issues involved in fixing the appalling ecological damage done by the Hussein regime as part of his attacks on the Marsh Arabs. Apparently, the marshes will never fully recover, but there are things that can be done and people are finally getting a chance to do them; the … Read more

Let Him Twist.

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Secretary of Education Rod Paige, that is. I don’t care how much you may not like the National Education Association (I don’t, much): explicitly calling it a terrorist organization – even if it was supposed to be a joke – is not appropriate behavior. This looks like the best quote about it: Gov. Jennifer Granholm … Read more

The Primaries That Everybody Forgot

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Or, Why Progressives are going to have to vote for Kerry
A Speaking Truth To… Well, Not Impotence

Tomorrow are three more primaries – Hawaii, Idaho and Utah… and, apparently, nobody really cares, including the candidates. Granted, Utah’s Democrats are running their campaign out of the public library system because the (Republican-controlled) legislature decided not to fund primaries this year, Idaho’s Democrats are just downright rare and Hawaii… sorry, if I was running for President I’d visit Hawaii at least once to ‘canvass’. Just like Dennis Kuchinich, who’s apparently the only one who bothered – I’m telling you, this entire primary is apparently just one long Spring Break for this guy. If I was single, I’d be deeply envious.

Anyway, there are three primaries tomorrow, and everyone’s assuming that Kerry will win them, but nobody really cares too much by how much. So be it: I’ll say Kerry by double digits in all three and no three-way splits, just to keep up with my usual obsessive look at the primaries. We’ll discuss the alternate title of this post under the fold. Warning: you may not like it, much. I’m in Giving Advice That I Know Probably Won’t Be Followed Mode again.

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Isengard on the Potomac: #2

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Part II: What the Experts Say This is the second in a series on Bush’s environmental record. Part I: Mission Statement is available here. Feedback to the first part of this series got a bit muddled, for which I’ll take responsibility, but to summarize the point: The EPA has a mission, a raison d’etre, and … Read more

Somewhat more relevant election news than Nader’s…

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…not that it was hard to find such a thing. Elections in Iran proceeded about as expected: in short, the regime threw out just about every reformist candidate that wouldn’t [elaborate obscenity deleted] like good little toadies and the voters responded mostly by reducing electoral turnout to its lowest point since 1979 (general consensus somewhere … Read more

Some people can’t take a hint.

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Unlike many of my compatriots, I am not really amused at the fact that Nader has decided to run for President again. There’s something vaguely depressing about watching a 70 year old man spend valuable lifespan campaigning for a single-digit percentage of the popular vote, not to mention the fact that he’s probably going to … Read more

Mighta been the Whiskey; Mighta been the Gin…

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So the only thing I can focus on this morning is my blaring inability to focus due to a wee bit too much consumption last night. Having misspent at least 5 lifetimes of youths, I’m seasoned in the art of overcoming a hangover, but you’re never too old to learn something new, so I’m wondering … Read more

Isengard on the Potomac

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Part I: Mission Statement This is the first in a planned series on Bush’s environmental record Environmental protection is a progressive obligation. By that, I mean specifically that rolling back regulations should not be the focus of the EPA. (It’s similar to the logic that explaining to employers how to work around overtime regulations should … Read more

Thou shall not make for yourselves an idol

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So Chief Justice Roy Moore might not approve, and Paula, Randy and Simon already cast their “No” votes, but the rest of the country seems to be sidestepping these authorities and creating their own Idol out of UC Berkeley student William Hung. If you were (un)fortunate enough to miss Hung’s audition on the Fox show … Read more

Preemptive “I’m Fine”…

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…I’m just not going to be around much this weekend: I’ve going to a SCA event that’s being run by my NJ friends, and to be blunt I intend to be too busy drinking lots and lots of extremely good homebrewed beer to get anywhere near a computer. Fortunately, my cobloggers will be more than adequate to fill all your blogging needs.

Don’t burn down the place and I’ll see all y’all Sunday.

Moe

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Stay Alert. Trust No one. Keep Your Laser Handy.

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It’s coming back. Praise all the gods of roleplaying gamers everywhere, it’s coming back, lasers blazing, updated for the modern era, it’s got Greg Costikyan, Aaron Allston and Ken Rolston involved and…

THERE REALLY WAS NO FIFTH EDITION.

Some of you know what I’m talking about: for the rest…

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Man bites dog

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Here’s an interesting man-bites-dog story:

A New Jersey woman, one of the hundreds of people accused of copyright infringement by the Recording Industry Association of America, has countersued the big record labels, charging them with extortion and violations of the federal antiracketeering act.

Via Glenn Reynolds, who thinks “she might just have a case.” (Slashdot has a similar take.)

I don’t. Or, I should say (having not seen the Complaint): “I think it highly unlikely.”

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO*) was originally passed to combat organized crime. Clever lawyers, however, have tried to apply its broad language to pretty much everything under the sun — from simple fraud cases to abortion protestors.

At the heart of every RICO claim are two elements: A “pattern” of “predicate offense” (fraud, extortion, bribery, etc.) and an “enterprise” through which those offenses are committed.** Both elements need to be met to state a claim. Moreover, under the law, both elements have to be alleged with specificity: a general or blanket allegation that X is an enterprise, for example, won’t do.***

Without going into it too far, I doubt that either element can be sufficiently alleged. The alleged “predicate offenses” by the RIAA appear to be alleged “extortions.” Apparently, the theory is that each copyright infringement lawsuit filed by the RIAA is an unlawful attempt to extort money from the target. But the filing of a copyright infringement lawsuit is generally a protected activity, and you have to show bad faith to overcome that presumption and even begin to make an extortion claim. Bad faith ain’t merely a “maliciousness” (though that’s probably needed); some knowledge by the RIAA that the lawsuit itself was frivolous at the time that it was filed is likely needed. I can’t see a plaintiff making that showing. The RIAA’s lawsuits may be heavy-handed, but they ain’t frivolous — there are real copyright violations going on.

The other problem is with the RICO enterprise. An enterprise can’t be a bunch of people who get together to commit a bunch of predicate acts; in some circumstances (a RICO claim under Section 1962(c), if you must know), it also can’t be one of the named defendants. Remember — the original purpose of RICO was to target the mafia. Think of the “enterprise” as, say, the 70s Teamsters: a legitimate organization that’s been infiltrated by ne’erdowells. With this in mind, I just don’t see an “enterprise” that survives Court scruntiny.

Of course, I could be wrong ‘bout all this — as I said, I haven’t seen the complaint. But the smart money’s on the RIAA.****

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Edward(s) for President

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Ever begun to wonder (somewhere between that 2nd and 3rd cocktail) if you’d make a good president? Yes, you? Political Junkie, blog-addict, arm-chair pundit…it’s had to occur to you, even if only to imagine yourself with access to the WH’s infamous kitchen or to search out the supposed secret tunnels under the Rose Garden. (Does … Read more

Polls: Putting the Junk in “Political Junkie”

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Mad props to Pejmanesque, but using 627 words to indicate that …at this stage in the game, at least, no one has the first clue what is going to happen with the presidential race. Certainly not the pollsters is about six hundred words too many. Check it out: he’s got some good ones this time, … Read more

Our Hero, Bradley Smith?

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Well, the Wall Street Journal thinks so: he’s the FEC chairman who has to determine policy on 527s and their shaking soft-money makers. Smith happens to be against restricting 527s, apostate Republican that he is, which makes the entire thing so blissfully ironic: we’ve got one of those 180 degree turnarounds going on here all … Read more

Serious People, Serious Posts…

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… so Rumsfeldian Fighting Styles are probably a hideous mismatch. Still, dammit, I had this idea first… which I can’t prove, because I can’t find the picture on the blog that sparked an impromteau caption contest. Arrggggh… (Via Surprised Conservative InstaNinja and Unapologetic Death Beast Ninja Blair)

Labor Pines

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Disclaimer: My father’s labor union paid a substantial chunk of my college tuition through a scholarship I received, so I’m far from unbiased on this topic. John Kerry is expected to receive the endorsement of the AFL-CIO tomorrow. Surprise anyone? This, from the AFL-CIO’s website, surprised me: Unions’ political work is not about electing Democrats … Read more

Gavin and Barney and Mitt and me

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Lots of criticism of S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom today, from the usual suspects (the American Family Association want to send him to prison for “up to 300 years”–though at the rate of 3 years per marriage poor Gavin is up to 7500 years in the slammer by now), and at least one not-so-usual suspect:

“I was sorry to see the San Francisco thing go forward,” said Frank, a gay congressman from Massachusetts who shared his concerns with San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom as the city prepared to begin marrying gays and lesbians last week.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Frank also expressed concern that the image of lawlessness and civil disobedience in San Francisco would pressure some in Congress to support a federal constitutional amendment banning gay unions.

Frank said he and other gay marriage advocates had hoped that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling that same-sex couples have the right to marry would serve as a national model for orderly, legal protection of gay marriage.

I think Frank has a very specific fear in mind. Governor Romney has started making noises about finding a way to defy the Supreme Judicial Court’s order to issue marriage licenses to gay couples in…I don’t know how many days, now.

My guess is that there are too many parallels, in Frank’s eyes, between what Newsom is doing and what Romney may do.

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Jesus may love you, but I think you’re an…

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Andrew Sullivan has made a post that I find myself agreeing with completely (which is actually an odd sensation, albeit not totally unfamiliar, but I digress). You can find the post here.

I think there are some people who are taking this entirely too far. When John Derbyshire asks for someone to make a citizen’s arrest on officials executing their duties as they belive mandated by the California Constitution, we ought to stop and think about just what this means and where we’re going. When the American Family Association’s Center for Law and Policy calls for these officials to be arrested and charged with felonies, they just need to be told to shut their pie holes, becuase they certainly aren’t contributing anything meaningful to the situation.

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Cause and Effect

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Russian President Vladamir Putin has announced that he intends to develop a new generation of nuclear missiles. This the country that can barely keep track of its existing nuclear weapons. They now want more. That’s not all, however: Some military analysts said his statement could indicate the revival of Soviet designs for nuclear warheads that … Read more

Gentrification Guilt and Gefilte Fish

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About a half hour after I had closed my gallery in Williamsburg (Brooklyn) the other day, an aggressive knock at the door revealed a Hasidic gentleman looking somewhat anxious. I let him in and he looked around, rather confused, asking “Is this a spa?” “No,” I replied. “It’s an art gallery.” “What do you do … Read more

Sudden fatigue…

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…so, real quick: Asparagirl’s back (and blogrolled) in her and her husband’s blog Protocols of the Yuppies of Zion. I’m with Pejman: it’s about time, although the pseudosexual tension that is apparently symbolized by Trackbacks was not actually present in my case. Amygdala’s got a link to a very good WaPo article about USO troupers … Read more

So, What Does It Mean?

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The WI primary, that is. Several thoughts:

1). We’re going to start seeing articles about how Edwards is on a comeback, not to mention ones intimating that Kerry may be faltering. It is my pious hope that nobody reading this will be surprised by that revelation. What is more up in the air is whether this does represent the comeback of Edwards and/or faltering of Kerry; just because it’ll sell papers doesn’t mean that it’s false. Complicating matters are the next three primaries: Hawaii, Utah and Idaho. The latter two are not likely to be Kerry bastions, to put it mildly; heck, Utah Democrats are running its primary out of public libraries because the Republican-controlled legislature didn’t feel like allocating the cash for primaries this year*. Don’t expect any useful data until 3/2.

2). If Kerry falters and Edwards gains, the front-loading of the primaries is going to work against picking one candidate. Kerry needs less plurarities and more outright wins, and he seriously needs a two-man race. Edwards needs Howard Dean. Dean… as far as I can tell, Dean doesn’t need a damned thing, which is why I don’t think that he’s going to drop out of the race.

3). Zogby got this one seriously wrong. Worse-than-TN wrong. Either Zogby hasn’t calibrated open primaries properly, or he has difficulty assessing Edwards, or both. Either way, don’t automatically expect him to get GA correct.

And finally:

4). The percentage of people who will resist the temptation using this primary to grind whatever ax they feel like grinding will be rather small. Depressingly so, in fact.

Moe

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Polls are closed in Wisconsin…

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…and Kerry, well, it’s only 10% 18% 23% 30% of the total. In a conservative state. With an open primary. I’m sure that he’ll snap right back. Anybody got a link to how Chandler’s doing in KY? I’m not sure why I’m interested in that race, but I am. UPDATE: Well, Kerry’s winning. At the … Read more