How a 'plumber' named 'Joe' shook up the election

His first name isn't actually Joe. He isn't a valid plumber. And he still has back-taxes to pay.

And yet, he has become the recent hero of the McCain campaign (frighteningly backwards economic plan and all) since his name came up in last weeks debate. Not only that, he has helped bolster his ratings in major swing states like Ohio. The media is all over him, even though he's effectively a non-story.
Joe the plumber: one of the most appalling political ploys of this election season (up there with the Obama-Ayers connection).

If there's one thing Americans can't stand, it's taxes. Americans have some of the lowest income taxes in the developed world, and yet, even when we've got a burgeoning deficit and a war to pay for, the thought of raising taxes if only for a few is painful, and, for some, unpatriotic. Because it's unpatriotic to give a slice of your — to be fair — well-earned income to your government.

Heaven forbid the developed country with the greatest income inequality — that's America, folks — tries to bridge the gap with a more fair, graduated tax system that doesn't benefit the wealthy, using the bogus 'trickle-down' claim as an excuse for unfair taxes.

So let's all feel sympathy for a man in the top 4% income bracket ($250,000 per year) who will feel a slight pinch in taxes, in fact, since were fighting one of the most expensive wars in modern history and facing a massive recession, lets give him a tax BREAK. That makes economic sense. Not like he hasn't already gotten a massive one under the Bush administration.

The news media deserves some blame too. Although there has been some skepticism, the outrageous amount of coverage is unwarranted and largely spreads the propaganda the McCain campaign itself is sending out into the mainstream.

Oh, and, for the record Obama was correct in his statement about small business taxes that started this mess. As 'Joe' plans to campaign across America with McCain, warning the masses about the 'socialist' radicalism a fairer tax system would bring more and more ACTUAL "average Joes" are feeling the pinch of the current economic crisis. If only people like Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher and Sarah Palin could be less greedy and actually give a damn about their own country's economic health instead of accusing their fellow Americans of being unpatriotic.

If American politics has been reduced to feeling sympathy for a man — an invention of the McCain campaign — who has already received more tax breaks than is healthy for this country's economy, then this really isn't the America I want to live in.

Going door-to-door for Obama

I canvassed for the first time today. Though it was just a few hours of my day, canvassing gave me a sense of fulfillment. When I got back home and looked at the polls, there was good news. Obama's pushing on as strong as ever now that the nation can fully see Palin for who she is. Hopefully Obama can maintain this lead when election day comes, and we can finally have a competent person in the Oval Office. And, for what it's worth, I plan on canvassing more next weekend and making calls during the week.

If you're looking to volunteer for the Obama/Biden campaign, get involved in more ways than one by checking out the campaign website.

Meanwhile, I must get back to these college applications.

A look back on China and the Olympics

August was China's great coming-out party
As summer ended, China was put in the global limelight. It had been chosen to host the 2008 Summer Olympics years ago, but this was it's time to shine. Expectations were built up; some dashed (political), some realized (Olympic).

Here are three political thoughts on the PRC that I jotted down as I enjoyed the splendor of the Olympic games:
The future
Perhaps even in 30 years China may drift away from one-party rule. China's economic change is moving at a rapid rate, prompting political change (moving much more slowly). China has been opening up over the past few decades, and one imagines this process will accelerate. On the flip side I cannot see the full transition to a multiparty state happening in less than 25 years.

Freedom
Since when were the opinions of people protesting for basic freedom irrelevant? The Tiananmen Square massacre gave us a chance to observe the total wrath of the Communist Party in China. Since when were the rights of any person outside of the central party in China respected? In a nation where tens of thousands are employed to control what information one can access on the Internet, freedom is obviously something in short supply.

Actions abroad
The Chinese government brought the criticism it has received lately for its foreign policy upon itself. In subverting the rights of its people, causing cultural genocide in Tibet and other areas, degrading the environment to a remarkable extent, and supporting genocidal regimes such as the one in Sudan, and propping up the Burmese junta, the PRC presents itself as one of the most negative actors in the world.

"Palin is the world’s worst sestina"

I'd like to refer readers to some poetic fun from The New York Times' book blog.

So what verse form suits the various candidates best? David Orr, author of the Book Review’s “On Poetry” column, offered this analysis: “Barack Obama is pretty clearly a haiku — quiet, unassuming, easy to underestimate. McCain is probably some species of ballad, especially considering his military background and fondness for ‘Invictus.’ Biden just keeps talking and talking, so he’s a rhopalic poem (each line is one syllable longer than the preceding line). Palin is the world’s worst sestina.”

Orr gamely attempted an anti-Biden haiku (“Barack Obama/ Such an articulate guy./ Clean, too, am I right?”), but his heart just wasn’t in it. “I think Palin is just inherently funnier than Biden,” he said, before letting it rip with this rather artful three-liner:

So jobs, they … you know,
Health care’s really …. it’s — Katie,
That bridge? I said no.

How much longer can the US remain a superpower?

Article worth taking a lot at. Takes into account the opinion of many international relations heavyweights.

American international prestige and internal prosperity has been severely damaged by these past roughly eight years of George Bush as president. This upcoming election is huge. There'll be posts covering the presidential and vice-presidential debates as well as the current financial situation soon.

Palin: What does the VP do exactly?

So besides her ludicrous views on a number of issues — from abortion to gays to energy security (Sarah Palin is THE darling of the right right now, hand-pushed by James Dobson to be the VP candidate) — is Palin really up to the job of veep?

"As for that VP talk all the time, I can't answer until someone answers me. What is it exactly that a VP does every day?" she said just a month ago on CNBC when asked about her chances of being on the ticket.
...
"We want to make sure that this VP slot would be fruitful type of position especially for Alaskans and for the kind of things we are trying to accomplish here for the rest of the US."

(emphasis added)
So, if she and McCain won, Palin would work for Alaska, but not America, which would be her job? Hmm...

Palin is also using the fact that she's the governor of one of America's remotest states to say she has foreign policy experience. Now, if one were to say John McCain has foreign policy experience, I'd agree, Joe Biden even more so. But Palin? Really?

Palin mania!

Palin was a key figure in 60% of campaign stories in the American news media this past week.

With the other ticket making most of the news, Obama was a focus in 22% of the stories last week, by far his lowest week of coverage in the general election season. His running mate Joe Biden registered at 2%.

The extent to which Palin commanded the spotlight last week is clear from the campaign storylines. Together, media narratives about McCain and the convention—including the proceedings themselves, Hurricane Gustav’s impact, McCain’s speech, and George Bush’s role—accounted for 43% of the campaign newshole. Palin themes, including reaction to her selection, her public record, her personal and family life, and the question of sexism—accounted for 45%.

I guess the McCain-Palin camp can no longer complain (repeatedly) about how the media is against them. Seems everyone is trying to paint themselves as a victim.

News coverage isn't the only thing McCain has taken from Obama. More and more McCain is pushing himself as the "reform" candidate. Because someone who's voted with the incumbent president 90-some percent of the time is obviously a Washington outsider. Oddly enough — considering he's pushing for "change" and all that — McCain has become even more conservative and like the president as the campaign rages on, changing his position and tone on a number of issues. He is less of a maverick now than he was making the president's war speeches for him.

The DNC

Obama just made an incredible speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. I'm glad he chose the experienced Joe Biden as his vice presidential candidate.

More posts soon, I promise. I have been very busy lately.

Pakistan takes a turn -- in the right direction?

A little while ago Pakistani dictator Musharraf was forced to step down. Now the party formerly led by Benazir Bhutto looks set to instal the next leader of the unstable South ASian nation. Remember this is a country with nuclear weapons. Pakistan probably harbos more members of international terroist groups than any other nation, the northern region bordering Afghanistan is the biggest trouble spot. Will Pakistan fall into disarray or will a new democratic government bring peace and stability to this country?

Hey, at least old Hosni is out of the building!

Obama picks biden as VP

Biden was my favorite candidates for the vice presidency, so I am pleased Obama chose him. He posses experience and can court the white working class voting bloc. Sen. Biden has experience, especially in foreign policy matters, and is willing to reach across party lines. It's looking like the Democratic camp has shaped up over the past couple months. However, what worries me is the constant pandering to religious groups who represent their own interests instead of the welfare of the nation. It will be interesting to see how this ticket plays out.

Breaking news from around the world

Tensions have intensified between the Western world and Russia and controversy still reigns over the ceasefire signed between Russia and Georgia. Cold War rhetoric has gone through the roof.

(Former) President Musharraf of Pakistan is no longer the leader. At last.

More soon!

Russia trying to topple Georgia's government?

It's a complicated situation in South Ossetia. Russia's fighting because she thinks some of her people are being oppressed in South Ossetia. Georgia is fighting to attempt to regain control of the region. The tensions are intensified because the two nations have been sabre-rattling for quite some time now. Questionable actions by the Georgian government have not helped. Russia's trying to act as regional police, but it's coming out looking like a regional bully.

Russia is escalating the conflict in the autonomous region of South Ossetia in Georgia, and moving into other parts of the former Soviet republic as well as the rest of the world's trying to get the two countries to cool things down.

Moscow said troops had raided the town of Senaki to destroy a military base before leaving again.

Georgia said Russian troops had also pushed into Georgia from South Ossetia itself, approaching the town of Gori.

The US president strongly criticised Russia, saying it might be planning to depose the Georgian government.

Correspondents say it was some of the strongest US language about Russia in years.

President Bush said he had talked to Russian Prime Minister Putin sometime around the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

Russia and Georgia have been going at it for years. It's gotten worse as of late. One only hopes a full-scale war can be averted.

Here come the Olympics!

Featuring China's blatant disregard for the basic rights of man!

Just one more day until the '08 games begin.

Early flip-flops in '08 election campaign

It's no secret that during the primary season, candidates pander towards the more extreme ends of their parties. However, as the campaign progresses, they focus on the center and swing votes, having already courted their own unique party factions. Obama is even trying to steal the religious vote by proposing new faith-based initiatives — an appalling move in my view, counter-intuitive even. While it's good he isn't trying to isolate religious voters, especially in swing-states like my (current) home state of Ohio, I'm worried enough about separation of church and state after this Bible-thumping Bush administration.

I'm sure you all have also heard about Obama's shunning of public financing for his campaign, going back on an earlier statement. Will this hurt his image as a government reformer? Read more here.

Coral reef inhabitants face extinction

Some of the most diverse animals on the planet may soon disappear. Coral reefs and their inhabitants are being destroyed at an alarming rate, as rare ocean wildlife is already being harmed and fish supplies are dwindling.

A third of the world's reef-building coral species are facing extinction.

That is the stark conclusion from the first global study to assess the extinction risks of corals.

Writing in the journal Science, researchers say climate change, coastal development, overfishing, and pollution are the major threats.

The economic value of the world's reefs has been estimated at over $30bn (£15bn) per year, through tourism, fisheries and coastal protection.

"The picture is frightening," said Alex Rogers from the Zoological Society of London, one of 39 scientists involved in the assessment.

Back home

My plane arrived yesterday from Heathrow, and I'm missing London already! Be on the lookout for new posts...

Lack of confidence in world leaders (but is there hope?)

Who's the best world leader?
Well, if UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is counted, then he's the world leader with the highest confidence rating — 35% — according to a new study in conjunction with the University of Maryland. As Newsweek reports,

On average, only 23 percent of foreign respondents express "a lot of " or "some" confidence in Bush, and only Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad does worse (at 22). ... Then comes [Russian President[ Putin at 32 percent, [UK Prime Minister] Brown at 30, [Chinese President] Hu Jintao at 28 and France's Nicolas Sarkozy at 26. The results aren't much different if you tally them country by country: in only two states (Nigeria and India) do a majority of people express at least some confidence in Bush. Putin and Hu each come out ahead in just five nations, and Brown in just six.

Meanwhile, respondents from most countries in a separate Pew study seem to adore US presidential candidate Barack Obama. Let's hope that, come November, most of America will think the same of him.

Say no to offshore drilling

In a move of populist pandering in an age of high gas prices, President George W. Bush...

has called on Congress to end a 27-year ban on drilling for oil in US coastal waters, to reduce dependence on imports.

We should not greatly endanger the environment when we should be looking for real solutions to the energy crisis. Offshore drilling -- like the loosening of gas taxes, or increased oil production -- is not a long-term solution. It will only make Americans more dependent on oil, and more dependent on something that destroys the environment in many more ways than one.

John McCain has made a complete U-turn on his offshore drilling policy, now following Bush in saying he supports it. His electoral opponent Barack Obama opposes both offshore drilling and the opening of ANWAR in Alaska.

Senator Obama dismissed Mr McCain's call as "political posturing" that would not bring down petrol prices and could endanger the country's coastal environment.

America's coastal environments have already been put in enough danger as the government takes a step back from regulating polluting industries. We have seen the vital role the coastal environment plays in protecting against hurricanes (New Orleans' natural defenses were down when Katrina hit) to soaking up what we pollute.

We shouldn't revert to old policies of drill-and-spill. I fail to see how this Republican ploy will do anything but hurt the United States in the long term. Isn't it time we moved beyond oil anyways?

Update

Hey readers, sorry I haven't posted in a while. I will try to squeeze in a few posts in the coming days, but on Friday I leave for a two week trip to London. Expect July and August to be good post months!

Firefox 3 released!

The newest version of Firefox is out. Go get it (8 million people already have) — and set a world record!

Meet the next Democratic presidental nominee

Barack Obama!


According to CNN, Obama has passed the threshold of 2,118 delegates required for the nomination (no surprise as many superdelegates switch over). While Hillary Clinton says she will not make a final campaign decision tonight, it is clear her end has come. However, she mentioned recently that she is willing to be Obama's vice presidential candidate.

This should end months of fracture in the Democratic Party between these two heavyweights. Obama will have to immediately jump into the race and Clinton and Obama supporters will have to get over their differences to beat John McCain in November. We cannot have effectively four more years of Bush-like foreign policy.

The South Dakota and Montana primaries are still ongoing, with Clinton looking to win the former while Obama takes Montana.

One more thing: For all those on the far right screeching that Obama is a liberal socialist, he's not. He is, at most, a left-leaning moderate. I only wish he was more liberal; but, alas, in a country like America, "liberal" is a dirty word and the right dominates more than its fair share of the mainstream.

P.S. The timestamp should be 10:14 PM not 9:14. Blogger has issues with DST.

Who gives a damn about what McClellan has to say?

While McClellan is cashing in on his new tell-all book, which tells us nothing new by a man who didn't shape Bush administration policy in any way but merely communicated it, Christipher Hitchens points us towards a book by former White House policymaker Douglas Feith...

Israel and Syria: Talking at last

A debate is brewing about diplomatic negotiations between Syria and Israel, who are technically still at war. In this situation, it's quite hard to see how talks could hurt. However the White House's policy on 'no talks with the enemy (lest we appease them)' seems to contradict its Mideast ally's approach.

NYT:

Israel, America’s staunchest ally in the Middle East, just became the latest example of a country that has decided it is better to deal with its foes than to ignore them.

The announcement that Israel has entered into comprehensive peace talks with Syria is at odds with the course counseled by the Bush administration, which initially opposed such talks in private conversations with Israelis, according to Israeli and American officials.
...
But in many ways, the Bush administration’s own policies appear to be at odds with his thesis.

Isn't this the same administration that took part in talks (albeit delayed ones) that resulted in the ongoing denuclearization of the North Korean state?

Women and the Bible (part 4)

As the Protestant reformer Martin Luther once commented, "If they [women] become tired or even die, that does not matter. Let them die in childbirth, that's why they are there." To be fair, many of the viewpoints expressed up to this point have been those of fundamentalists. After all, a new, modern Christianity cannot just interpret the Bible, it must bring a sense of fairness so it is not seen as an outdated an backwards faith (which is the truth any way one spins it). Egalitarians and liberals, trying to bring their faith into the modern age, say women do have rights; there are even some Christian feminists! But how can there be a feminist whose faith rests upon the words of a book contrary to their sole beliefs? So-called moderates can be just as bad as their extremist counterparts, strongly cherry-picking Biblical passages, liberally quoting them, ignoring the contradictions elsewhere in the Holy Book. That's not to say all modern Christian orginizations recognize women as equal. The Roman Catholic church — the world's largest religious body at 1 billion members and counting — still doesn't let women perform any official religious duties — in other words, they cant be reverends, bishops, etc. Keep in mind, though, that this is the same religious entity that refuses to acknowledge the link between condoms and AIDS prevention, or the scientific theory of evolution (the Vatican is not alone in its views).

Italy's government encourages racism

It seems that European xenophobia is not limited to people from predominately-Muslim countries...

Sixty-eight per cent of Italians, fuelled by often inflammatory attacks by the new rightwing government, want to see all of the country's 150,000 Gypsies, many of them Italian citizens, expelled, according to an opinion poll.

The survey, published as mobs in Naples burned down Gypsy camps this week, revealed that the majority also wanted all Gypsy camps in Italy to be demolished .

About 70,000 Gypsies in Italy hold Italian passports, including about 30,000 descended from 15th-century Gypsy settlers in the country. The remainder have arrived since, many fleeing the Balkans during the 1990s.
...
In a second poll, 81% of Italian respondents said they found all Gypsies, Romanian or not, "barely likeable or not likeable at all", a greater number than the 64% who said they felt the same way about non-Gypsy Romanians.

Many Gypsies are as entitled legally to live in Italy as 'ethnic' Italians, making this extreme xenophobia and racism all the more alarming. The government has made immigration rules harsher as it takes a swing to the right.

Italy will only get worse under its reelected, corrupt media-mogul leader Silvio Berlusconi.

The new 'appeasement' controversy

Make diplomacy, not war
President Bush made an attack on Barack Obama and other Democrats in a speech in the Israeli parliament.

The president, at Israel's 60th anniversary celebration in Jerusalem, suggested that some Democrats were acting in the same way some Western leaders did when they appeased Hitler in the runup to World War II.

Those ready to talk to hostile regimes are not cowardly appeasers; they are actually courageous. Anyone can start a war (see George W. Bush), but it takes someone with diplomatic tact to keep the peace. Diplomacy, and thus engaged discussions, is required to do so. This is one of many reasons Obama is better-suited for the Oval Office than the incumbent officeholder. The Bush administration is responding to Iran's saber-rattling just the way Iran wants them to respond: with more saber-rattling. This makes war a greater possibility and raises tensions on both sides. It's time for both sides to back down.

It is not 'appeasement' to talk to the enemy, and in fact that word has become all-too-dirty since the appeasement of Hitler before the Second World War. To label everyone who does not support your every whim an 'enemy' is also a dangerous move this administration has chosen to take at a time where the world needs more peace, not more hostility.

The Republicans' need to smear Obama on foreign policy lies not only on their own warped views of the world, but also their insecurity as America is increasingly Democratic (by a 10% margin). Furthermore, Bush's speech was entirely inappropriate as it was in the Israeli Knesset. Is Bush trying to prove to the world we are the world's most polarized nation when he makes a veiled attack in his speech, or what? Hillary Clinton, Obama's competitor for the Democratic presidential candidacy, and looking more like she belongs on the other side of the aisle than ever, has also struck low blows, criticizing Obama's position on diplomacy with countries like Iran.

We need a president who's not afraid to talk with the other side.

Wishing Israel a happy birthday

(If only it was a peaceful one.)

It has been roughly 60 years since the founding of the Zionist state of Israel. Here are a couple articles of note:

BBC News - Israel at 60

Foreign Policy - Think Again: Israel (subscription required; I'll try to find an alternate link)

And its nearly impossible to talk about Israel without bringing up the fun topic of Palestine... Is Israel contributing to humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip? You decide!

More natural disaster

China's southwestern Sichuan province was hit by a major earthquake today...

One of the worst earthquakes in decades struck central China on Monday, killing nearly 9,000 people, trapping about 900 students under the rubble of their school and causing a toxic chemical leak, state media reported.

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake devastated a hilly region of small cities and towns. The official Xinhua News Agency said 8,533 people died in Sichuan province and more than 200 others were killed in three other provinces and the mega-city of Chongqing.

The death toll is likely to break 10,000.

The Chinese government has actually done a fairly good job responding to the post-earthquake humanitarian needs of its people. Conveniently trembles from the quake were felt in Beijing, so the government could not even attempt to mask the damage this earthquake has brought (a 1976 earthquake killed hundreds of thousands; the government attempted to cover it up).

The tale of John McCain and his crazy reverend

With all the over-hyped fury over Obama's pastor, you'd think McCain's even more insane 'spiritual guide' would make more headlines...

You may have heard of Rev. John Hagee, the McCain supporter who said God created Hurricane Katrina to punish New Orleans for its homosexual "sins." Well now meet Rev. Rod Parsley, the televangelist megachurch pastor from Ohio who hates Islam. According to David Corn of Mother Jones, Parsley has called on Christians to wage war against Islam, which he considers to be a "false religion." In the past, Parsley has also railed against the separation of church and state, homosexuals, and abortion rights, comparing Planned Parenthood to Nazis.

So much for freedom of religion. This is a man who wants to see all other religions but his destroyed. Interestingly enough, Obama denounced Jeremiah Wright; McCain hasn't even dropped the endorsement of Rev. Parsley. As far as I'm concerned, this Wright business has gone vastly overboard, politically speaking and considering the massive coverage its gotten over the past couple months.

Burma gets hit, hard

As if enough bad things haven't already happened to the Burmese people...

BBC News

More than 10,000 people were killed in a devastating cyclone that hit western Burma on Saturday, Foreign Minister Nyan Win has said on state TV.

This is one of the worst storms of its kind in years.

With disasters like this, the death toll usually rises rapidly. From 350 Saturday to 2,000 on Sunday then 10,000 today. It may continue to rise as more evidence of the cyclone's destruction is found. If only the Burmese government didn't block large amounts of aid meant to assist the disaster-ravaged people within its borders. It is also preventing people who aim to survey the effects of Cyclone Nargis from coming to Burma (aka Myanmar).

McCain: Four more years of Bush?

With the two senators on the Democratic side still duking it out for the presidental nomination, John McCain has been trying to capitalize on the rift within the Democratic party, with his own Republican nomination already secured.

McCain shows no sign of straying from Bush's path on the economy and the Iraq war — two of the biggest issues facing America today. He is sure to continue the current administration's disastrous policies at home and abroad, and has put forth no plan to combat poverty or the health care crisis. Not even counting Iraq (where the US may maintain presence for 100-plus years, according to McCain), his foreign policy plans are delusional. Of course, McCain shows vastly better leadership skills than the current president, and indeed would be better than the status quo, but that's not good enough. In brief, McCain is a panderer; he panders to the extreme right of the United States, an ideological group that has run this country into the ground with its extremist and irrational views.

Whichever Democrat comes up on top — be it Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama — they will most certainly be better for this country than the GOP's nominee.

Women and the Bible (part 3)

The very notion of women being vastly inferior goes against all our Enlightenment values — equality, fairness, freedom! I find it astounding that such an antiquated religion that calls for suppression of freedoms seen only in states like North Korea is the most popular faith on the planet. Do these professed Jesus-lovers even know what their book says? No, it does not preach peace and happiness, but submission and barbaric violence — specifically towards women — even by biblical heros! 'God' only knows how far back the mass belief in Christianity has pushed not only equal rights for women, but for other groups (e.g. gays, blacks). Just the fact that the world's first human was a man, and that the first woman was made from one of his ribs sets the stage for the inferiority of women.

The MSM and the race for the White House

Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former presidential candidate John Edwards, penned a good op-ed in the New York Times today examining the absurdity of the media coverage in the 2008 presidential race. For instance, while we know Obama's bowling score, many nothing of his health-care plan. Edwards does not blame the mainstream press for the failure of her husband's campaign, but does fault it for ignoring candidates on both sides, such as Biden and Dodd for the Dems and Brownback for the GOP. As the article says,

I’m not the only one who noticed this shallow news coverage. A report by the Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy found that during the early months of the 2008 presidential campaign, 63 percent of the campaign stories focused on political strategy while only 15 percent discussed the candidates’ ideas and proposals.

No we can't!

Poor Obama. Looks like Hillary stole away with a double-digit lead in Pennsylvana after all. The race for the Democratic nomination will continue until the convention this summer. (PA primary results.)

Happy Earth Day

Yes, yes — today is the day hippies rejoice and we ponder what our malevolent human activities are doing to ruin the planet we inhabit. Happy Earth Day everyone!

Eco-friendly tip: Use less water

Heres an article from the Independent reminding you that every purchase you make affects someone, somehow — especially in an environmental sense. No, this doesn't concern greenhouse gas emissions, but something much simpler: water.

The concept of water footprints – or "virtual water" – will tell consumers the amount of precious H2O that has been used in the manufacture of products they buy. As with carbon footprints, a "virtual water" figure will indicate the extent to which a particular product has cost the earth. And, as with carbon footprints, the message is clear: less is better.

A new website run by the University of Twente in the Netherlands, waterfootprint.org, gives ethically minded consumers a chance to work out the hidden implications of their shopping habits.
...
Though it covers more than two-thirds of the earth's surface, water has never been more precious. An influential UN report published in 2003 predicted severe water shortages would affect 4 billion people by 2050, adding that 40 per cent of the world's population did not have access to adequate sanitation facilities.

The most effective method to combat the wasting of water? Use common sense. You don't even have to buy less (although two showers a day may be excessive). Recycling and conservation are, as always, the best things to do for the environment.

Water is already proving to be a global problem. The combination of global warming and overuse of water have made the need for drinking water one of the primary issues of our day, affecting especially those in developing countries.

A 'bitter' debate

For those who haven't been following the news, here's the scoop on the 'bitter' controversy:

At issue are comments he made privately at a fundraiser in San Francisco last Sunday. He was trying to explain his troubles winning over some working-class voters, saying they have become frustrated with economic conditions:

"It's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Both McCain and Clinton have mounted harsh attacks on Obama for his comments, but I must say, I do not disagree with what he said in San Francisco, even if it was a "mistake". Americans are becoming more xenophobic; they are turning more to religion. In fact, as religion has fallen out of favor with many of our European counterparts, Americans have been turning to Jesus in droves. In addition, guns seem to be more popular. These are all factors of working-class and small-town angst, and I don't think Obama should be reprimanded as "elitist" for voicing these views. That being said, Obama's comment was still pretty harsh (John Dickerson attempts to decipher it here).

Clinton and McCain are sounding awfully alike in their attacks. I'd say more criticism should be placed on Sen. Clinton for her condescending label-throwing.

More and more I am leaning towards Obama as my preferred candidate. Lucky for him, his comments don't seem to have cost him the uber-important Pennsylvania primary:

New polls meanwhile suggested that the furor sparked by Obama description of some small town Americans as "bitter" had yet to dent his hopes in Pennsylvania, where votes are cast on April 22, though his rival Hillary Clinton clung to a narrow lead.
...
A Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll out Tuesday suggested that Obama may have escaped damage among Democrats in Pennsylvania.

It gave Clinton a lead over Obama of 46 percent to 41, down from double-digit margins in earlier polls, and also had her losing in both Indiana and North Carolina, which both vote next on May 6.

Public discontent with China, and what to do about it

According to a Zogby poll,

70% Believe IOC Was Wrong to Award Olympic Games to China

and

48% believe U.S. political officials should not attend the opening ceremony due to China's poor human rights record

Feelings are even stronger in Europe, with the EU Parliament voting in favor of restrictions on attending the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Beijing this summer due not only to China's overall human rights record but to its treatment of demonstrators in Tibet (FREE TIBET!). World leaders such as Britain's Gordon Brown and France's Sarkozy are refusing to attend the opening ceremony, and President Bush has been pressured to do so as well.

However not all are sure that a boycott would be a good thing.

71% believe any boycott of the Olympic Games in China by the U.S. would be hypocritical because the U.S. imports so many products from China and retains relatively close diplomatic ties with China that the U.S. has essentially endorsed China’s human rights record.

I'd say a total boycott of the Olympics would not be a good idea, but national leaders sitting out on the opening ceremony is a strong and righteous move, even if it is ineffective. Some say that we should not be mixing politics with sport, but China brought this upon itself with its atrocious conduct. Having visited China, I've witnessed firsthand the restrictions on fundamental liberties people face there, and the dire effects of the 'communist' government's policies. While nations should not isolate China outright, they should take a strong stand against tyranny and the mistreatment of citizens.

If you're wondering why its been a bit cooler this year...

It's not because global warming is a myth. As the Beeb reports:

Global temperatures for 2008 will be slightly cooler than last year as a result of the cold La Nina current in the Pacific, UN meteorologists have said.
...
But this year's temperatures would still be way above the average - and we would soon exceed the record year of 1998 because of global warming induced by greenhouse gases.

Global climate change is a long-term trend; that doesn't mean it is not a current threat, though.

When should a presidential candidate call it quits?

I feel I haven't been covering the American elections as much as I should. After all, so much is happening. The lone Republican, John McCain, is still trying to drum up support for the Iraq war, and the situation is looking a bit better there. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama continue to duke it out in the Democratic foray, but he seems to be ahead at the current moment, in popular sentiment, delegate count, and within many influential circles. It's a harsh race indeed: Bill Clinton recently said there are two patriots in the election run, his wife and her Republican opponent.

Anyway, John Dickerson wrote an interesting piece in the Washington Post (which, on a totally unrelated note, won a large number of Pulitzer Prizes this year)

At some point in the next weeks or months,either Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton or Sen. Barack Obama is going to face a lonely moment. Standing at the bathroom sink with a toothbrush, or huddling with aides at campaign headquarters or collapsed on a couch at home with his or her spouse, one of them will decide that it's over.

It's still too soon to say who will have to give up their dream of occupying the Oval Office for the next few years.


I got a call from Obama offices today ("Would you like to go to Pennsylvania and rally supporters?"), which reminded me that I signed up on his campaign website. I can't say I support him enough to go all the way to Pennsylvania though...

The Bush administration: ABOVE THE LAW

Another one of John Yoo's masterpieces
Not like we didn't know this before, but this time it's official! The George W. Bush administration is ABOVE FEDERAL LAW. The statutes and limitations applying to us mere mortals do not apply to the office of the commander-in-chief or his subordinates. Imagine that.

The Justice Department sent a legal memorandum to the Pentagon in 2003 asserting that federal laws prohibiting assault, maiming and other crimes did not apply to military interrogators who questioned al-Qaeda captives because the president's ultimate authority as commander in chief overrode such statutes.
...
Sent to the Pentagon's general counsel on March 14, 2003, by John C. Yoo, then a deputy in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, the memo provides an expansive argument for nearly unfettered presidential power in a time of war. It contends that numerous laws and treaties forbidding torture or cruel treatment should not apply to U.S. interrogations in foreign lands because of the president's inherent wartime powers.

Oh yeah, and they don't torture either.

As Andrew Sullivan recently stated,

One day this president and vice-president will be prosecuted for war crimes.

Women and the Bible (part 2)

The Bible is crewel towards women and has promoted inequality for centuries. It has been excuse for the sexual and overall repression of the female sex, among countless other abominations, and condones such actions. It suggests total submission of females to males, and its wishes, 'straight from God's mouth' have been carried out without question.
Christians accuse us nonreligious folk of "misinterpreting" the Bible. But don't they do the same thing for their own gain? I'm just quoting the Holy Book; you can interpret it as you like. I'm just trying to educate, reveal Christianity for what it is. However, the attitudes in churches are much different. You must view this text this way! So-called moderates throw out the iffy stuff like Abraham making his wife a prostitute — twice (Genesis 12:13-19 and Genesis 20:2-12) — or the condoning of slavery ("Slaves, obey your masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ." Ephesians 6:5; similarly "Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considering, but also those who are harsh." 1 Peter 2:18), but emphasize such "Christian values" as not killing, treating others as you'd like to be treated, etc. Apparently one very Christian value is the submission of women, as Ephesians 5:22 says "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord." 1 Peter 3:1: "Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands..." I think there's little room for debate for that message of the Bible. And yet, nonreligious movements are far more controversial than these troubling Christian fundamentals!

Zimbabwe's democratic test

Zimbabwe held elections today. The south African state has been led by dictator Robert Mugabe for decades now, who has used his country's colonial past as an excuse for isolation from the West and extremist domestic programs. The octagenerian has, however, fallen out of favor with many Zimbabweans.

Opposition claims unlikely victory in Zimbabwean election
The opposition has claimed a win in this probably-rigged election.

Defying a government order, Zimbabwe's main opposition party released its election results on Sunday, claiming an early victory for their presidential candidate.

Sunday's announcement sets up a showdown with Zimbabwe's government, which will release the results of its count on Monday.

Leaders of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have already dismissed the government's results -- expected to show a victory for President Robert Mugabe -- as rigged in favor of the incumbent leader.

There are concerns that if each side claims victory, tensions could ignite and violence could erupt.

At a news conference in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, MDC leaders said their candidate Morgan Tsvangirai has won 67 percent of the vote, based on one-third of the returns, journalists inside Zimbabwe told CNN.

The party did not explain how it arrived at those results.

The Zimbabwean government has denied CNN and other international news organizations permission to enter the country to report on the elections. Read about reporting on the elections.

MDC Secretary-General Tenda Biti has accused the ruling Zanu-PF party of chasing its party's agents away from polling stations.

We'll see the full extent of the election as results are released tomorrow. Whether the opposition really takes power depends on Mugabe, who shows no sign of letting is country be truly democratic.

Away

Note to readers —

I will be away all week. New post on Sunday.

Mission accomplished (take two)!

I have never read of a man who applied such flawed logic, so long, and on numerous occasions, as the American president.

Reuters story from earlier this week:

President George W. Bush said on Wednesday he had no regrets about the unpopular war in Iraq despite the "high cost in lives and treasure" and declared that the United States was on track for victory.

Marking the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion with a touch of the swagger he showed early in the war, Bush said in a speech at the Pentagon, "The successes we are seeing in Iraq are undeniable."

With less than 11 months left in office and his approval ratings near the lows of his presidency, Bush is trying to shore up support for the Iraq campaign, which has damaged U.S. credibility abroad and is sure to define his legacy.

All we've got to do is stay the course folks, we're almost there!

China crushes dissent in Tibet

Basically the rest of the world told China to respect human rights in response to the Tibet crackdown.

Good news for people used to bad news

As I turn in for the night tonight, there are some good news stories of note...

Chad and Sudan have struck a peace accord;

there's a new EU climate change commitment;

and the US House of Representatives has passed a bill banning retroactive immunity for telecom companies coerced into/agreeing to comply with the Bush administration's illegal domestic wiretapping program, although the bill is sure to be vetoed once it hits the Oval Office.

Ethnic nationalism's around to stay

Ethnic nationalism is playing a role in human affairs as much now as ever. Check out this intriguing — if long — essay from Foreign Affairs.

Americans generally belittle the role of ethnic nationalism in politics. But in fact, it corresponds to some enduring propensities of the human spirit, it is galvanized by modernization, and in one form or another, it will drive global politics for generations to come. Once ethnic nationalism has captured the imagination of groups in a multiethnic society, ethnic disaggregation or partition is often the least bad answer.

The author seems to be saying that once a country or region has reached a high point of ethnic nationalism, there is no turning back. We've seen this in the Balkans; and are we now witnessing the rise of full-fledged ethnonationalism in Iraq? Many times ethnic cleansing is fueled by ethnic nationalism — think of the Ottoman Empire's attacks on Armenians or the Holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany. Also discussed is how immigration plays a role and the state of ethnic nationalism in historically-troubled Europe.

Personally, I'd rather we judge each other on our controllable human traits instead of our involuntary ethnic status. Were it not for ethnic nationalism, the world would be much better off today. That's not to say I deny its advantages, such as, in some cases, state stability and the forming of a common bond between peoples. Most nation-states formed with one dominant ethnic group and identify themselves as such. But, as with any form of nationalism, the people of a country can easily be exploited, leading to violence. Isn't ethnic nationalism, in a way, just an evolution of racial tribalism?

A note on the current state of affairs

It's so easy to get lost in they hype of the US election season. Yes, it's exciting, and yes this is the most important election in years, but there are other issues that are being overlooked (Gaza, Kenya, climate change, etc.), glossed over with often-shallow primary coverage and political entertainment stories ('What's Hillary wearing today?')...

Anyway I'll be posting with a higher frequency than I have in the past couple months. Look for coverage of the '08 election, as well as other pressing news and issues.

Bush's continued assault on human rights

Another nasty veto...
BBC News:

US President George Bush says he has vetoed legislation that would stop the CIA using interrogation methods such as simulated drowning or "water-boarding".

He said he rejected the intelligence bill, passed by Senate and Congress, as it took "away one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror".

The president said the CIA needed "specialised interrogation procedures" that the military did not.

Make no mistake: waterboarding is torture. All human rights organizations agree, as well as other nations and even the American FBI! Waterboarding simulates drowning and leaves the victim psychologically — and sometimes physically — damaged.

There is no reason for torture. This is not a fight between human rights and national security. Torturous interrogation techniques do not get reliable information, countless studies have confirmed this common sense notion. In addition, the declining perception of the US because of the use of torture leaves it more open for attack and helps terrorist recruiters.

The issue of the CIA lies in the fact that by not leaving it objective, the White House opened the door for flawed, politically-motivated intelligence reports such as the ones justifying the Iraq war. The CIA has had continual use as a dirty political tool in the 'war on terror', where it has tortured and detained innocent people without respect to US or international law, whether in Guantanamo, 'black sites', or cases of extraordinary rendition.

"This is no time for Congress to abandon practices that have a proven track record of keeping America safe." Bush says. Mr. President, if I may counter. You have failed to produce any reliable evidence that torture has helped the United States. Yes, I know you don't use the exact term "torture". It's politically sticky. You stick to the euphemism "enhanced interrogation". Let's see how you would feel about having to stand up, shackled, for 40 hours or so, while being threatened by a CIA thug. Maybe that would change your mind about the true meaning of torture. You use the same justification for torture as you do for (previously) illegal domestic wiretapping: It has saved lives, it will save lives! We must counter the most dangerous terrorists! We must prevent another attack! While it is compelling for me to follow along with most Americans and politicians on your national security programs, you see, I have a respect for the law. I also recognize the fact that torturing terror suspects will get us nowhere in our fight against those who have wronged us.

The president's actions are inexcusable; this is one of the times I am seriously angry at George W. Bush and his ludicrous national security policies. Why can't he use at least one of his vetoes to cut spending like he has promised instead of fighting popular stem call initiatives or legalizing torture?

Women and the Bible (part 1)

Imagine: You're a woman in biblical times. You wake up with a bruise on your upper leg; you were beaten last night for insubordination. You try not to think about it. You remember a friend of yours was stoned for being a "witch"; she was alleged to have slept with a man other than her husband. She died, age 17. Everything is OK though. You remember verse 3:18 of Colossians: "Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord." Does that ease your pain, or just make it worse?You're off to do your daily chores, and there are many of them. Where is your husband? Probably off with one of his other wives. You remember Genesis 4:19 — “Lamech married two women…” — and sigh. Remember also that King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3). Women were, after all, created for man, from man...

March 4th: the showdown

Today's primaries in Ohio, Texas, and several other states may well decide who will be the nominee on the Democratic side. Hillary Clinton is already at a slight disadvantage, in the polls, in delegate counts, and momentum-wise, and even winning the mega-states of Ohio and Texas may not be the boost her campaign disparately needs. Barack Obama, however, is looking as strong as ever. John McCain will probably further secure the Republican Party nomination for president with his expected victories tonight.

I will publish a post explaining my endorsement of one of these candidates following these primaries.

Putin wins Russian election!

Wait, you may say, I thought Dmitry Medvedev won Russia's election today. True. But who is this mysterious Medvedev, who current President Vladimir Putin chose as his successor back in December. Simply put, Medvedev is a smaller version of Putin; he is the "nano-president".

As I said, Medvedev is slated to win the rigged election today.

Vladimir Putin's handpicked successor Dmitry Medvedev was cruising to an easy victory in Russia's presidential election Sunday, a result expected to give significant power to the outgoing president.

The Central Election Commission said that returns from 15 percent of Russia's electoral districts showed Medvedev with about 65 percent.

Some voters complained of pressure to cast ballots for Medvedev, and critics called the election a cynical stage show to ensure unbroken rule by Putin and his allies.

Sunday's vote came after a tightly controlled campaign and months of political maneuvering by Putin, who appeared determined to keep a strong hand on Russia's reins while maintaining while maintaining the basic trappings of electoral democracy and leaving the constitution intact.

Medvedev is expected to formally take over as president in May, and Putin has agreed to be his prime minister.

It will interesting to see Putin as PM. He will no doubt continue to weld power as presidential puppet-master. His popularity continues in Russia as he has brought the former Soviet republic new power by letting Russia's energy resources dominate his policy — petropolitics, it is called.

Major issues facing Russia right now are its relationship with the West, namely in terms of energy; its own economic diversification, including its hope to join the WTO; internal instability; the situation in the Balkans with Kosovo's new independence; the country's (limited) support for Iran, also straining relations with the West; and trouble Chechnya. The new president will also face increasing criticism in areas such as Iran and Russia's limiting of gas supplies to Ukraine. When you're dealing with Russia, many foreign policy issues deal with geopolitics.

Congress disappoints in Clemens steroid case, and the media follows along

Gasp! One of America's baseball stars committed perjury?!

A congressional committee asked the U.S. Justice Department to review whether pitcher Roger Clemens lied when he testified he never used steroids.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sent a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey today requesting a perjury investigation relating to Clemens's deposition and testimony for a Feb. 13 hearing on performance-enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball.

So the Justice Department will investigate this, but not the lost CIA torture tapes, or the torture itself? It will go through the records on a sports star, but it won't investigate the shady dealings of the executive? Wow.

Even worse than the fact Justice is wasting it's time on the Clemens case is the fact this steroid drama was brought before Congress in the first place. The House Oversight Committee. Should be cleaning up the government, right? Doing its job tackling national issues?

Wrong.

The biggest political/sports story of past month had nothing to do with the government, and, in fact, shouldn't be on the front page.

I know it would be nice to clean up America's pasttime, which also happens to be the world's most steroid-infested sport, but I fail to see how this is the government's job and not that of the MLB. What right does Congress have to question Roger Clemens on his steroid use? Why waste its time?

And what about the media in all of this? They're having a field day! I have seen no article in the mainstream media questioning whether these hearings should be happening, whether Congress should be wasting its time, or whether this story is over-reported — which it is.

The hearings are being turned into a partisian show, with Republicans being sympathetic to Clemens and Democrats attacking him. The chair of the committee, Democrat Henry Waxman, regrets holding the hearings in the first place.

Congress should be spending its time more wisely, as it has a worse approval rating than even President Bush. In addition, the media should focus on real news — not mix sports with front-page politics — and MLB should clean up its act.

China and Sudan: bedfellows in evil?

In another piece of bad news coming from the Sudan region...

The Sudanese military is said to have renewed its aerial bombing campaign in the west of the Darfur region.
The joint United Nations African Union mission in Sudan, Unamid, said it had received reports of aerial bombings in the Jebel Moun area of the region.

A Unamid spokesman said there was grave concern for the safety of thousands of civilians in the area.

The reports came as China's envoy for Darfur, Liu Guijin, began a five-day visit to the country to push for peace.

China has come under increasing pressure to use its influence with Sudan to end the fighting.

Mr Liu will travel to Darfur on Tuesday, the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict which has left 200,000 people dead and 2.5m homeless.

This visit comes after it was revealed that China sold more weapons — both light and heavy arms — to Sudan.

One can see China's influence within Sudan as the up-and-coming superpower tries its best to gain political support in the whole of Africa — in a way filling the void there — as well as taking advantage of the continent's energy resources. While China is helping development there, it is also overlooking major human rights abuses, and, in some cases, encouraging them.

Bejing's relationship with Khartoum, as well as its human rights abuses at home, has led such heavyweights as Stephen Spielberg to denounce China and call for a boycott of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Try as it may to play down human rights fears, but there are supporters of human rights just as stubborn as the abusers — i.e. the Chinese government — themselves.

It's time to get serous with China about its support of the genocidal Sudanese regime. However, powers such as the US should not isolate the emerging giant in its race for economic supremacy or they will find themselves in a tough spot once China has the upper hand.

America's troubling abstinence program in Africa

President Bush has been on a tour of Africa, where he maintains at least a modicum of popularity due to his aid programs there (although that aid sometimes makes things worse). Also on the American leader's agenda was dealing with China's growing influence in the region, fueled by its thirst for oil in nations such as Nigeria and Sudan.

The New York Times reported

Mr. Bush used a news conference to address the widespread suspicion that the United States planned to establish military bases in Africa as it expanded its strategic role on the continent. And for the first time, he suggested that he might consider dropping a requirement that one-third of AIDS prevention dollars be spent on abstinence programs — but only if he was convinced that the approach was not working.
...
Mr. Bush faced tough questioning from an African reporter about his administration’s requirement that one-third of the AIDS initiative’s prevention funds be spent on programs promoting abstinence.

The independent Institute of Medicine has said the abstinence requirement is hindering prevention efforts. Democrats in Congress, debating reauthorization of the initiative, want it dropped.

A president needs to be elected who won't require a certain amount of money be spend on abstinence programs. People will continue to have sex no matter what, and that means the spread of STDs and unwanted pregnancies. Contraception and overall sexual education should be one of the highest priorities for HIV/AIDS prevention programs.

Belief in abstinence-only programs —  confusing teachers, harming schools, and not properly educating people — is one of Bush's more dangerously irrational religious beliefs, which exists primarily to gain the support of the supposed millions of people who believe that condoms are the devil. Why do you think America has the highest teen pregnancy rate in in the developed world (see map)? In fact, "pro-life" people should like contraception, since it would lower the rate of abortions and terminations of unwanted pregnancies. America's domestic program of withholding important sexual information and instead supplying abstinence-only programs has been listed as a human rights concern by Human Rights Watch.

The US's foreign policy relating to aid for AIDS program not only needs more funding — one improvement this administration has brought about — but the abstinence requirement must be dropped. Who knows how many have contracted STDs and died because of lack of proper education of sex, and lack of options. There is nothing promiscuous about governments handing out condoms or information on contraception. Withholding those devices and that information is harmful to cause of most of us who want to stop the spread of AIDS and let a woman choose whether she wants to get pregnant.

Another Muslim cartoon row

BBC News:

Hundreds of Danish Muslims have been demonstrating in Copenhagen against the reprinting of a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad they consider offensive.

The cartoon depicts the Prophet with a bomb in his turban.

All major Danish newspapers decided to republish it after Danish intelligence said it had uncovered a plot to kill one of the cartoonists.

Over-sensitive Muslims of the world: Get over the Danish cartoons depicting your profit. It's called free speech; get used to it. For those who don't remember the riots and death threats two years ago, see here.

Just remember, there's a difference between tolerance and absolute accommodation. If they want to survive in free societies, religions will need to be able to stand up to criticism — or shut up. No death threats; no fatwas; let's settle this in a civilized manner, not by evoking religious barbarity. Up until now, most modern societies have given into religious insanity far too much.

The end of Musharraf?

Pakistan held elections today, the results of which are flowing in as we speak...

The Times:

President Pervez Musharraf’s supporters conceded defeat last night in a landmark parliamentary election that could seal his political fate and resurrect democracy in Pakistan after eight years of military rule.

But while the two main opposition parties appeared to have swept the vote, neither was expected to win an outright majority, setting the stage for a coalition government in this chronically unstable country.
...
Final results are not expected until tomorrow, but preliminary figures suggest that the PPP will win the most seats followed by the Pakistan Muslim League (N) led by Nawaz Sharif, another former Prime Minister.

One can only hope an opposition party will emerge as winner in this election, and that the dictatorial Musharraf will finally face impeachment. Most Pakistanis want him out anyway.

Meanwhile, a NYT op-ed warns that instability in Pakistan is a problem to all of us — the south Asian country holds active nuclear weapons (not to mention that it's a hotbed of Islamic terrorism).

An independent Kosovo

Angering Serbia and its allies, such as Russia, Kosovo, already a semi-autonomous province, proclaimed its independence from Serbia today, in a long-awaited move.

Kosovo's parliament has unanimously endorsed a declaration of independence from Serbia, in an historic session.
The declaration, read by Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, said Kosovo would be a democratic country that respected the rights of all ethnic communities.

The US and a number of EU countries are expected to recognise Kosovo on Monday.

Serbia's PM denounced the US for helping create a "false state". Serbia's ally, Russia, called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting.

To understand the reasons for the Kosovo divide, one must understand the problems the former Yugoslavia faced, and is still facing right now (i.e. the Kosovo War).

This will add to the strain in relations between Russia and the West.

More posts coming soon...

I would like to apologize to all my readers for not posting much the past month or so, but expect regular postings from today on! I am also working on a series of essays about religion and other fundamental topics, and I hope we can have an open debate about these pressing philosophical issues. In addition, more eco-tips will be coming as we enter March.

An overlooked Chad inherits regional problems

Thousands of Darfur refugees have spilled over into Chad, adding to the instability.

"Since Friday, following the bombing in west Darfur, 12,000 people have crossed from Darfur to Chad in an area called Birak," said Helene Caux, a spokeswoman for the UNHCR.

Chad may turn out worse than neighboring Sudan, where much of this trouble originated in (see final paragraph).

Meanwhile the UN is attempting to provide aid to the tens of thousands of Chadians fleeing their capitol.

Even as there is fighting in the capitol, there are fears of a cross-border war between Sudan and Chad.

A senior UN official on Friday warned that a reported proxy war between Sudan and Chad through rebel groups on each side of their border threatened to destabilize the region and could lead to a wider conflict.

Jean-Marie Guehenno, the French head of UN peacekeeping operations, made the remarks to the Security Council as Sudanese troops attacked three communities in western Darfur, killing dozens of civilians, according to a Darfur rebel chief.

This is all likely to raise Chad's rank on the Failed States Index, as divisions within the country ignite in violence, and conflict from Sudan reaches across Chad's eastern border.

In all three of these stories, the UN is involved, which is — for the most part — a good thing.

While the Darfur conflict in Sudan is roughly localized to a specific region, the fighting and instability in Chad affects the entire country, including the capitol, thus endangering a larger number of people. Not to play down the seriousness of Sudan's genocide, of course. But at the moment, since a UN force is already forming in Darfur, Chad looks to be a more pressing issue. Instability doesn't stop at the border. Khartoum isn't in flames; but Ndjamena practically is.

Super (Tuesday) aftermath

The primary results tonight solidified the campaign of Republican John McCain; he currently almost triples Romney in number of delegates. McCain won delegate-rich states such as New Jersey and New York, and is on track to win California. It looks like Huckabee supporters in the realist camp chose (i.e. defected to) McCain after all. However, Super Tuesday only intensified the campaign on the Democratic side between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Clinton currently is ahead of Obama in the crucial state of California, and has already taken such states as New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New York; whereas Obama found his strength in the south, taking Georgia. Candidates on both sides are in a near tie in the telling bellwether state of Missouri. Obama won his home state of Illinois, another important state delegate-wise. (When I say 'won' I mean either solidly won or is projected to win. Either way they'll take it.)

Points have been made about Obama's liberalness (e.g. National Journal report — see this post), but the labels "liberal" and "conservative" are more complex than we take them to be. Political Compass, a site I've written about before, has a new graph up of all '08 candidates positions on a two-dimentional political chart.

When examining the chart it is important to note that although most of the candidates seem quite different, in substance they occupy a relatively restricted area within the universal political spectrum. Democracies with a system of proportional representation give expression to a wider range of political views. While Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel are depicted on the extreme left in an American context, they would simply be mainstream social democrats within the wider political landscape of Europe. Similarly, Hillary Clinton is popularly perceived as a leftist in the United States while in any other western democracy her record is that of a moderate conservative.

Obama is more 'liberal' on Iraq — in reality, all current candidates fail on Iraq in my book; there is a lack of moderacy — whereas Clinton has more left-leaning domestic initiatives, such as healthcare.

I have yet to support a Democrat, although I am starting to lean towards Clinton because I'm getting sick of Obama's pledge for yet-undefined 'change'. Overall the Democrats have failed to not disappoint this election season. I stick to my support of McCain on the Republican side, although he is, after all, a conservative.

For more results, see CNN.

P.S. I promise to devote the rest of this week to non-election news and issues. It's so easy to get carried away...

Super Tuesday

The deciding day of the primary season — the period before party nominations — is today. 42% of total delegates from both parties cast their votes in some 24 states, including California, New York, Illinois, Georgia, and New Jersey, holding their primaries on this "Super Tuesday".

Here are some helpful links:

BBC News live coverage and guide to Super Tuesday

CNN election coverage.

See here for pre-poll speculation.

Will superdelegates significantly shape the race?

CNN's Super Tuesday background.

I will post later tonight as the results flow in.

And then there were two...

Only Clinton and Obama remain as Edwards steps down.

Obama is gaining momentum on the Democratic side of the race.
We have lost John Edwards — the major anti-corporation, anti-lobbists, focus-on-poverty campaigner. Sadly, Edwards didn't have a chance (he was a bit too populist for my tastes anyways). It remains thus unclear where Edwards' support goes. In recent debates he sided more with Hillary Clinton, but since his supporters tend to be more left-leaning, it makes sense that a large number of them would go to Obama.

WSJ:

Mr. Edwards, after running as the sunny son of a mill worker in 2004, returned last year as the angry spear carrier of the hard-line left, running on a dark, conspiratorial form of populism and swapping in corporations for Republicans as the villain in his us-versus-them construct. Mr. Obama, on the other hand, has not just been selling possibilities and opportunities, but reconciliation and unity -- and, god forbid, promising to work with Republicans to meet the country's challenges. (Not surprisingly, throughout 2007, Mr. Edwards was the runaway favorite in the regular Kos reader straw poll -- besting Mr. Obama by 21 points as late as Jan. 2, 2008.)

The issue of race in the 2008 campaign has reached its peak with everyone from the news media to the candidates themselves endlessly blabbing about it — especially on the side of the Democrats. It has gotten ridiculous — nobody's focusing on racial issues; the larger focus has been on whether Bill Clinton was the 'first black president' (to answer that, one needs only to look at his skin color; the debate just enforces racial stereotypes and the color divide). Since we're on Bill Clinton, there has also been ample media speculation about the role he has played in his wife's campaign. Yes he was an above-par president, but will he meddle in his wife's affairs and further polarize the base?

Obama has been racking up endorsements, like his fellow up-and-comer on the other side of the aisle, John McCain, notably from most of the Kennedy family. He was also ranked the most liberal senator by the nonpartisan National Journal (which isn't saying much considering the conservatism in American politics). This could be used against him in ridiculous ways like in the case of the right smearing John Kerry in 2004.

McCain endorsements are becoming a trend

Last summer, people thought his campaign was over, just as they believed Fred Thompson would become a frontrunnner. Even recently his ratings haven't been good, far behind (previous) national frontrunner Rudy Giuliani. Now John McCain is looking stronger than ever, his eyes set on winning the ultimate political prize: the Oval Office.

Rudy Giuliani, former national Republican fruntrunner, is endorsing McCain "from the heart". California Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger endorced him after the GOP debate on Wednesday.

McCain is in the lead, eclipsing Romney, who he clashed with strongly on Wednesday.

Parallels between fictional barbarians and today's Islamic terrorists

Parallels between fictional barbarians and today's Islamic terrorists

In Booker- and Nobel Prize-winning author J. M. Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians, the 'barbarians' are very different compared to the terrorists the United States and its allies are fighting today. The barbarians are a set group, compared to the more ambiguous terrorist enemy. Also, they seem to attack when directly provoked (actually, during the course of the story there isn't concrete, objective proof of a barbarian attack on the Empire). They are a fairly peaceful, simple, nomadic people who live in fear of the Empire and suffer because of its expansion. However, there are some parallels between the barbarians and Islamist extremists. Many modern Islamic terrorists are waging jihad against the US because of its occupation of lands they see as sacred, belonging to Muslims, as well as its diehard support of occupiers of Mideast land like Israel. America is tainting these lands for its own profit (oil), or so their line of thought goes.

The stronger parallel between the Empire's wrath for the barbarians and America's 'war on terror' is the chilling aspect of torture used gratuitously by the Empire in the book and — to a lesser, more secretive extent, directly or indirectly — by the United States today. My personal view is not that the US is an empire in the way the one in the book is; whether it is at all is a point of contention among experts. Of course the US looks out for its own economic interests in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere, as do all nations who rely on energy supplies from that region. It is the reality of men and nations that we take care of ourselves first and make sure our well being is well provided for.

The thing that has brought the world's sole superpower into such a great mess is security. Although oil has played an indirect role, those drawing such a strong line between Iraq and Exxon should reevaluate their logic. America supported the mujahideen in Afghanistan during the 1979 Soviet invasion and ensuing war to fend off its Cold War arch-rival. Today it faces the same people it supported in Afghanistan in a globalized 'war.' However, unlike the war in Waiting for the Barbarians, one side is ambiguous in the 'war on terror': the terrorists. This ambiguity allows the US more leeway in its 'war,' but also leads to more trouble: anyone could be a terrorist. These terrorists either operate relatively alone with influences from groups or in cells, often under the authority of others. What unites them for the most part is ideology, but there are devisions even within that radical anti-American foundation. The Bush administration has clumped its 'barbarians' together into one massive group of pure evil. It's 'us against them'.

Torture is made into entertainment in the book. The public is put at ease at the sight of a few innocent barbarians being abused and sometimes killed. The army turns fear into hate and allows the public an outlet for that hatred. In Waiting for the Barbarians the man plagued by this lack of human decency, the town judge, is displaced by all this mess as he attempts to take on the torture machine. He is arrested at the circumvention of the law — emergency powers are in the hands of the military because of the barbarians are apparently ready to pounce. The people in the remote frontier town in Waiting for the Barbarians are in constantly terrorized by the threat of a supposedly imminent barbarian invasion, yet another similarity between their society and America's (among others).

The us vs. them seen especially during wartime is seen in the book: "The soldiery tyrannizes the town. They have held a ... meeting to denounce "cowards and traitors" and to affirm collective alliance to the Empire" (Coetzee 130). There are elements of absurdity in the story of torture in Barbarians, but that same absurdity is seen in real life in the political rhetoric condoning torture. Innocent people — people who share fear if any ties with the enemy — are tortured needlessly for no real point. Whereas the fictional barbarian situation came to an end and just rule was reinstated, the terror subsided, there is no assurance that the same will happen in America's 'war on terror.'

America isn't the only country with an election this year

We seem to get so wrapped up in the US election sesson ever time the presidency is up for grabs — there are still eight or so months until election day!

2008 is a big year for a number of countries. Will Pakistan's February election see turmoil? How will the handpicked successor to Vladimir Putin in Russia fare as yet another political puppet? Will Robert Mugabe maintain his iron grip on power in Zimbabwe as citizens go to rigged polls (like in Russia) in March? Can the elder statesman continue his near three decades of rule? And what about Iran, where the fiery Ahmadinejad will have to defend his place as Iran's president as legislative elections come in March and presidential in 2009.

Taking a break

I am taking a break from blogging. My life is currently very busy but I am drafting future blog posts, and will continue to do so during my break. Look for new posts a week from Friday (i.e., the 1st of February), although I may blog a bit before then.

RECESSION!

An issue I expect to remain in the headlines — and one that is monitored continually — is the possibility of an economic recession in the United States, thus generating shockwaves in the world markets.

Recent dips in stock markets — in the US as well as internationally (will Asia be hit hard?) — have increased fears about the instability of the American markets, thanks, in part, to the subprime loan debacle (which I will blog more on soon).

I am not an expert in economic matters, but I think it is easy even for a layperson to say that the near future is not bright for the US economy and world markets. After years of prosperity, negative economic trends may be among us. As the World Economic Forum is held this week in Davos, Switzerland there is certainly a contrast between last year's hope — especially in regards to the rise of Asia — and this year's fear. The bigwigs in Davos are worried, as are market analysts everywhere from New York to Hong Kong.

A new 'modest proposal'

Jonathan Swift recommended we eat and use the children of the poor as goods, as opposed to letting them be a burden on Ireland's sizable poor. Now there is a new "modest proposal": eliminate trans-Atlantic travel to the US. The DHS is already on the case...

US intelligence chief contradicts White House on water-boarding's status as torture

BBC News:

US national intelligence chief Mike McConnell has said the interrogation technique of water-boarding "would be torture" if he was subjected to it.
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He told the New Yorker there would be a "huge penalty" for anyone using it if it was ever determined to be torture.
The US attorney-general has declined to rule on whether the method is torture.
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In December, the House of Representatives approved a bill that would ban the CIA from using harsh interrogation techniques such as water-boarding.
President George W Bush has threatened to veto the bill, which would require the agency to follow the rules adopted by the US Army and abide by the Geneva Conventions, if the Senate passes it.

The administration seems to believe that torture works as a means of getting information. On the contrary, the assertion that harsh interrogation works is proved false by many studies. In addition public knowledge of torture — which is inevitable in such a high-profile 'war' — hurts the world's perception of the US and breeds more terrorists. But what right does the US have to police the world and detain foreigners as it pleases, especially not in anything close to a war zone?

First step towards Iraqi political reconciliation?

BBC News:

The Iraqi parliament has passed legislation allowing former officials from Saddam Hussein's Baath party to return to public life.
The US had been urging Iraq's Shia-led government to approve the move in a bid to reach out to minority Sunni Arabs.

It will allow thousands of former party members to apply for reinstatement in the civil service and military.

The new law was passed as US President George W Bush, who is in the Gulf, said hope was returning to Iraq.

Now they have to find a way to get all the experts and bureaucrats who either fled or are in hiding to come back and help repair Iraq. De-Baathification and the disbanding of the Iraqi military were two major mistakes made early on by the US government. The Baath party may have been heinous, and it may have provided for the rise of the tyrant Saddam Hussein, but the loss of officials from the previous government not only created a power vacuum but left the US with few experienced politicians to work with.

New Hampshire won by Clinton and McCain

For the Democrats, Hillary Clinton has won New Hampshire, the nation's first primary, with nine delegates and 39% of the vote, while Barack Obama was nipping at her heels with 37% and the same number of delegates. Edwards finished poorly with 17% of primary votes. It was surprising Obama did not win, since pre-primary polls put him 10% ahead of Clinton. The exit polls are very interesting to analyze; Clinton supporters are more traditionally Democratic and have more faith in their candidate than do the supporters of any other candidate on the Democratic side.

My preferred Republican in the race, John McCain, swept New Hampshire with 37% of the vote and seven delegates. He was followed by Romney with 31% and Huckabee with 11%. (You know American politics are in trouble when Ron Paul is polling in nearly double-digits in New Hampshire.)

One under-covered primary was Wyoming's. Romney won it, so he has more delegates than anyone else on the GOP side, 24. He is followed by Huckabee with 18 and McCain with 10. Obama has 25, Clinton 24, and Edwards 18.

Up next is the Michigan primary on 15 January. The Dems will soon have to make a choice, probably between Obama and Clinton (Edwards still has a small chance); the GOP race is still wide open.

Up next: New Hampshire!

New Hampshire primary results should come in tonight. Romney has poured a lot of money into this state; will his losses grow? And what about Giuliani, who snubbed Iowa? Will Obama's Iowa momentum help him against Clinton? And can Edwards, after an impressive second place showing in Iowa, keep up?

All eyes are on the first primary in the 2008 race for the presidency.

Terror suspect sues torture mastermind

Jose Padilla, who was held in a South Carolina military brig for years under suspicion of terrorism, only to be convicted on lesser charges unrelated to the original accusations, is suing former Bush administration legal mastermind John Yoo.

Chicago Tribune:

In the latest legal contest over the treatment of detained terrorist suspects, attorneys for Jose Padilla filed a suit in a California federal district court this morning against John Yoo, the former deputy assistant Attorney General whose legal opinions formed the basis for Padilla's detention and the interrogation techniques used against him that the attorneys call torture.
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Padilla was eventually tried, and convicted in a federal district court in Miami last year, but on lesser charges that he was part of an overseas terrorist conspiracy-no mention of a planned dirty bomb attack inside the U.S..

The suit filed this morning in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco, turns the spotlight of blame on Yoo, the author of a series of legal memoranda known collectively as the "Torture Memos." Drafted in 2002, when Yoo was a deputy assistant Attorney General in the Justice Department, they provided the legal justification for the interrogation techniques used on suspected Al Qaeda operatives that many, from former generals to presidential candidates, have since decried as torture.

"John Yoo is the first person in American history to provide the legal authorization for the instiution of torture in the U.S.," said Jonathan Freiman, an attorney representing Padilla in the suit. "He [Yoo] was an absolutely essential part of what will be viewed by history as a group of rogue officials acting under cover of law to undermine fundamental rights.it never would have happened without the legal green light. That made it possible."

There are few people I'd like to be brought down in a lawsuit over torture than John Yoo. His actions — which not only circumvented the Constitution and established laws over checks-and-balences but broke a handful of international agreements the US was a party too — brought shame to the reputation of America and showed just how much the administration is willing to break the law and disregard human rights in its 'war on terror'. Yoo also had a hand in the administration's domestic wiretapping program.

The dizzying effects of mass consumption

Check out this great opinion piece in the New York Times by the man who brought you the fantastic book Guns, Germs, and Steel (read it!), Jared Diamond. It is about consumption. It will appeal to anyone interested in environmental matters, the rise of the developing world (especially China), and the wastefulness of the developed world (especially the United States).

The average rates at which people consume resources like oil and metals, and produce wastes like plastics and greenhouse gases, are about 32 times higher in North America, Western Europe, Japan and Australia than they are in the developing world. That factor of 32 has big consequences.
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If India as well as China were to catch up, world consumption rates would triple. If the whole developing world were suddenly to catch up, world rates would increase elevenfold. It would be as if the world population ballooned to 72 billion people (retaining present consumption rates).

Spiderman teams up with the UN

The United Nations has teamed up with comic book producer Marvel in order to use popular comic characters such as Spiderman to promote its humanitarian mission, starting in 2009.

When critics attack the United Nations, they often accuse the world body of being a web of bureaucracy.

Considering the UN's lack of popularity in the US and elsewhere, this could be a good idea. At least its a unique way to inform children about the mission of this vastly under-appreciated international behemoth.

Huckabee and Obama take Iowa

As predicted by the polls, Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama seen to have won the Iowa caucuses for their respective parties. They both won in the 30%s. Huckabee won the conservative vote in his Republican party whereas Obama took the independent and more progressive blocs.

The candidates hope this will raise their national rank. Obama polls at number two; Hillary Clinton still maintains control of the Democratic race. I had hoped McCain — the only bearable Republican in the race — would win, but I guess Huckabee's rise was inevitable, since GOP caucus-goers wanted a conservative choice. Iowa was a bad investment for Republican Mitt Romney, who has put millions into his Iowa campaign.

According to CNN, entrance polls say Huckabee won the backing of women and evangelical Christians who feel alienated by most of the other picks; and that the Democratic race is between experience and change — it seems like for now Obama's 'change' has trumped Clinton's 'experience'.

Dodd and Biden have both abandoned their White House campaigns.

Happy New Year!

In 2008 we will witness events as gargantuan as the 2008 US presidential elections and the 2008 Summer Olympic games in Beijing, China. We will also see how issues like climate change play out in both local and international arenas. In Europe, we will witness the aftermath of the signing of the EU treaty; in America we will see several major Supreme Court cases decided; in Burma we will stand by for more uprisings against the military junta. We will see whether post-election Kenya turns to turmoil and worry about the fate of Pakistan following the death of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. Economically the worldwide reverberations of the US sub-prime mortgage crisis will be felt, most of all in the United States. How will the rising price of oil affect the markets, as well as individuals? Hopefully 2008 will be a year of peace in the Middle East — will the insurgencies in Afghanistan and Iraq finally be quelled; will Israel and its neighbors resolve disputes?

I look forward to blogging about all these matters in 2008.