So, there really wasn’t anything in Iraq after all. Even David Kay, the head of the U.S. inspection team supports that view. And while being rid of Saddam is without a doubt good for the world, Robert Mugabe, Kim Jong Il, and other unsavory characters still run their countries and are free to do as they please.
Wondering what the number of casualties in Iraq has been? Or the number of wounded? Lunaville.org privately provides the kind of numbers the Department of Defense doesn’t.
Alright! In another sign marketing has taken over the world, the idea of taking what may be a bad project and re-spinning has taken hold in Israel. The West Bank fence is now being referred to as the “Terror Prevention Fence”. They’re adopting the American way–don’t debate the idea, just the name!
Slate, as usual, provides a nuanced look at the issues that have led to the adoption of the fence. The key dynamic is one of population, as territory controlled by Israel will eventually become Arab majority unless Israel “disengages” from the occupied territories.
Those with a taste for more can see the proposed route here. For my unfamiliar eyes, I found I had no concept of geography in the region.
Today’s Idiot of the Day Award goes to American Airlines pilot Dale Robin Hersh, who decided to tempt the Brazilian authorities by giving them the finger while he was being processed by immigration. Oddly enough, this US citizen didn’t appreciate being treated by Brazilian immigration officials…in the same way US immigration is treating Brazilians!
NJ became the fifth state to recognize domestic partnerships with limited benefits for same-sex couples. Voting was surprisingly painless, no doubt because nobody was even paying attention, at least in the media.
The typical response was quoted: Mr. Tomicki said the law, in applying only to gays and lesbians and people over age 62, was constitutionally flawed because it gives same-sex couples benefits not allowed opposite-sex couples in the same circumstances.
Of course, I could apply his own logic to deny the validity of marriage since it only empowers opposite-sex couples.
According to The NY Times, Saddam wrote a letter to the leaders of the Iraqi resistance arguing against inviting non-Iraqis in to Iraq to resist the American occupation.
Officials said Mr. Hussein apparently believed that the foreign Arabs, eager for a holy war against the West, had a different agenda from the Baathists, who were eager for their own return to power in Baghdad. As a result, he wanted his supporters to be careful about becoming close allies with the jihadists, officials familiar with the document said.
I also have a report bookmarked that I haven’t read by an independent group that analyzed the Weapons of Mass Destruction claims and concluded that there wasn’t much there.
At least the team admits it too.
“Yes, it was a letdown,” said junior guard Ricky Shields. “We should have blown this team out. I don’t know why we keep playing to the level of our competition.”
A political look at the Matrix movies compared to the Lord of the Rings movies irritated me a little bit, as it took some of my joy out of the Lord of the Rings series. This was an idea that was also in the back of my mind but reading the article only brought it more to the forefront.
The “Rings” films are like promotional ads for those tired old race and gender paradigms that were all the rage back in author J.R.R. Tolkien’s day. Almost all of the heroes of the series are manly men who are whiter than white. They are frequently framed in halos of blinding bright light and exude a heavenly aura of all that is Eurocentric and good. Who but these courageous Anglo-Saxon souls can save Middle Earth from the dark and evil forces of the world?
This has always struck me as one of the biggest con jobs that the media has passed on:
He [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon] later accepted the U.S.-backed “road map” peace plan, with significant reservations. The plan calls for an end to violence, a settlement freeze and the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005. [Italics mine]
His reservations has always indicated that there are conditions he has no intentions of complying with, indicating that he in truth doesn’t accept the plan. Why the media is so content to push this myth of acceptance is beyond me.
Speaking of Con jobs, here’s one on Continental’s new LCC.
Whomever controls the message controls the discourse and brings their ideas to fulfillment. This idea is central the the way modern politics operate.
One of my favorite examples of this is the needless elimination of the estate tax. Conservative groups, labeling it the “death tax”, appealed to a large component of the population over a number of years, eventually winning support for the idea and having it included in a tax package. What I found downright odd about the situation is that the tax only applies to about the top 1% of the wealthiest Americans, who have estates values at greater than $670,000. Further still is the loss in tax revenue is offset by increased costs through higher taxes, less services, and more debt for the other 99% of the population.
It is the very lack of message that leaves me unwilling to support the Democrats at the moment. None of them can consistently articulate a message that is not overspun, repealed or denied. None of them strike me as being able to convince the general electorate of their honesty. These issues cost them the general election in 2000 and the mid-term elections in 2002, and at the moment I see the same trend repeating itself. Dean and Kerry both strike me as particularly vulnerable to this point, with Dean likely to be ripped by the Republican machine in the months leading up to the general election, as his message control is dubious at best. Clark is an unknown, though, and may offer a decent chance depending on how the primaries evolve over the next month or two.