Random shots

-The government of Uzbekistan -- which we're friendly with for some reason -- murders protestors like it's nothing. Cunning Realist takes note of the hypocrisy of the US calling for "restraint"....from the protestors, not the government.

-Found an interesting page yesterday: The Philosophers' Magazine "ethics portal". Click if you wanna get deep.

-After seeing Matt Yglesias & Kevin Drum consider knuckling under on the 10 Commandments issue, Julian Sanchez makes the opposing case, arguing that by defining the boundaries of church&state issues further back, we also define how far religious-statists go to break it:

I remember an old parenting manual I flipped through many years ago, about setting boundaries. The idea was that teens are always going to push whatever limits you set as a way of asserting their autonomy, so there's something to be said for being a little stricter than you actually think is necessary—better junior be able to rebel by breaking an early curfew than by shooting heroin.

Whatever the merits of that approach as a parenting strategy, I think there's something to be said for it in this arena. I'd rather the church/state separation fights be over a creche on the lawn at city hall — a fight I could live with losing —than about something more serious. And, on a related but semi-distinct note, I think there's a value to keeping a pretty high wall even on these more trivial matters because it reinforces the idea that while our broader culture may be deeply religious in many ways, our public, political culture is not. (emphasis mine)

Lemme break from this theme here to insert my two cents for a moment. I agree wholeheartedly with the logic behind it, but at the same time I think we also need to be careful that the same thing isn't adopted the other direction. If they start thinking "push for a yard and we'll get at least a foot"...

Then again, who am I kidding. They're already pushing for a yard.

-PEW did research on what's actually behind the whole "red & blue"/oh-we're-so-polarized garbage the media trots out. Findings aren't surprising. To summarize (my interpretation): Democrats have frightened the "middle" into leaning -- or even voting -- Republican; what defines the two "majors" isn't "cultural issues" nor the proper scope of the State, but foreign policy; and as usual the national pastime is contradiction.

-As you fellow netheads have probably heard by now, and the average citizen probably has no idea about, Bush is pushing a new international trade agreement, its nifty acronym being "CAFTA" -- Central American Free Trade Agreement.

My preliminary thoughts on it? I dunno really. I tried to get a full text & came up at the US Trade Representative's website. Unfortunately, the act is apparently so long that it's a humongeous series of PDFs which I don't have the time to download.

And that's coming from someone who's such a dedicated poli-nerd that I download entire releases from thinktanks for later reading...

All I have now is my principles: if it actually clears out restraints on trade, leading us closer to being able to buy anything from anyone & sell anything to anyone with no "guidance" by the State, then I'm for it; if it merely erodes sovereignty by forcing a one-size-fits-all regime of regulations & shields businesses against the risks inherent in a free-market, then put me down for a No vote. Anyone out there who has access to an explanation of CAFTA that is fairly detailed yet not ridiculously huge & fragmented (I'm on dialup, so anything over 10MBs and/or 6 seperate files is a no-no), so I can formulate an actual opinion of it, give a holler.

A fiendish plot(ing)...

The Blogosphere Political Compass Project is making a huge-ass graph with the approximate positions of various bloggers. I decided to participate.

It's recenly been updated, with my entry added. Link is above.

The coordinates I show up at are (4.8, -3.8), apparently meaning I should extend a "howdy, neighbor!" to Pwyll of Carnal Reason & Clarke of The Boileryard...

Like it's a bad thing...

AP writer: "He circumvented congress!!"

Republican senators sent acting U.S. Appeals Judge William Pryor's nomination for a permanent judgeship to the Senate Thursday, setting up a showdown with Democrats over President Bush's four most controversial judicial nominees.

The GOP-controlled panel approved Pryor on a 10-8 vote, with all Republicans supporting him and all Democrats opposing him.

Pryor, the former Alabama attorney general, currently holds a temporary seat on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta because President Bush last year circumvented Congress and placed him on the court. For Pryor to win a lifetime appointment, the full Senate must confirm him by the end of the year. (emphasis mine)

Now, how many people know that this is actually an authorized activity for the president to do, and has been for quite some time?

Stick to criticizing the nominees. The GOP stuck a foot in their mouths by claiming the opposition was a religious litmus test, the Dems trying to argue that a recess appointment is somehow evil would do the same thing.

All this over a book

Remember Afghanistan?

KABUL, Afghanistan May 12, 2005 — Police clashed with anti-U.S. demonstrators in two Afghan towns, killing at least three people, and Afghan students burned an American flag in Kabul on Thursday as protests spread over reported abuse of Islam's holy book at the U.S. jail in Guantanamo Bay.

The unrest came a day after riots in the eastern city of Jalalabad left four people dead the worst anti-American protests in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Apparently one of our interrogation techniques involved flushing a Koran down a toilet. For this, people are rioting. And dying. And calling for our heads...

In Kabul, more than 200 young men marched from a dormitory block near Kabul University chanting "Death to America!" and carrying banners including one stating: "Those who insult the Quran should be brought to justice."

I'm guessing by "justice" they don't mean the person who did it simply being reprimanded....

There's clearly a lesson here. This is what a society comes to look like when religion remains the largest building block to it. Their allegiance to that religion overrides any potential foundation for progress, leading people to exert more rage at the destruction of a book of religious text than they do the ones using said text as an excuse to kill.

Of course, turning a blind eye doesn't help either:

An Afghan analyst said Muslim outrage over the desecration report sparked the protests, not hatred of America.

"Afghan people don't have anti-American feeling but some Afghans might be angry with the behaviour of American troops," said Qasim Akhgar a writer and human rights worker.

I think it's safe to say this person, as a human rights worker, is inherently what they call "out of touch" with his countrymen...

Slide some of that over here?

Mirror images:

Britain ---> Blair wins re-election...and members of his party promptly call for him to resign:

Prime Minister Tony Blair faced calls from Labour Party legislators Monday to step down, just days after securing a historic third term that was dampened by a sharply reduced majority in Parliament.

The emerging schism in the governing Labour Party reflects the nation's unease over Blair's decision to go to war in Iraq and the possibility of a leadership challenge well before he serves out his term. "We have won three terms, we have got to be immensely grateful to Tony for that. But we have got to look forward, not back," said Labour lawmaker Ian Davidson.

"Anybody who has spoken with voters on the doorsteps knows that Labour won despite Tony Blair," said Mark Seddon, a member of Labour's ruling executive. "They (Labour members) would like him to leave with dignity, but would like to know there is some kind of timetable."

U.S. ---> Republicans control both houses of congress, and the presidency, yet the era of big-government returns thanks to Bush arm-twisting for new entitlements. The response is...not a peep.

The Brits in Labour will sacrifice their own party for what they see as more important interests. The GOP will sacrifice all principle for their party.

*wanders off to get a stiff drink*

Still over a barrel

US to the AofE country that actually has nukes: "Please?"

WASHINGTON -- With negotiations sidetracked for nearly a year, the Bush administration offered a couple of carrots Monday to North Korea - direct talks and recognition of its sovereignty - in a bid to derail its nuclear weapons program.

The twin offers go to the heart of North Korea's quest for international acceptance, but neither is brand new, and the impact on the often erratic leadership in Pyongyang is anyone's guess.

Meanwhile, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Sunday that North Korea had plutonium that could be converted into five or six nuclear weapons.

By the time any actual progress is made, Iran might have The Bomb too.

I think by now, all we can really do if this doesn't get anywhere - which it will not -- is say "fine, but you f**k with us and we WILL melt you" and leave it at that. Either that'd have a reverse psychology effect & scare him, or if anything fishy started up we could say "hey, we warned him". How are those new, more targetable nukes coming?