The Satanic Vendetta Against Poor, Misunderstood Iran
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Iran says an EU ban on imports of Iranian oil is “unfair” and “doomed to fail”, and will not force it to change course on its nuclear programme. — BBC News
OK, we get it. Iran’s enrichment program has far surpassed the needs of peacetime nuclear power and it’s fast approaching weapons-grade uranium stockpiling. Iran can sentence US citizens to death on trumped-up charges of espionage. But when the free world decides to shop elsewhere for its oil needs, that’s “unfair.”
“Please Vote for Me”
I caught part of a Global Voices PBS World special called “Please Vote for Me.”
“Please Vote for Me” examines the efforts of three 8-year-old students running for class monitor in an elementary school in Wuhan, China. The youngsters are shown campaigning for votes and participating in debates.”
If you are class monitor, you get to show off, build your own political organization, and tell the other kids “Quiet!”
One way to win is influence peddling. “If you vote for me, I’ll appoint you deputy class monitor.” It turns out the really smart kids get elected to this prized grade school position by compiling long lists of one’s competitors’ faults, circulating those to the whole class in order to sway the voting.
Their teacher was Chinese, of course, but for this segment of a grade school kid’s education, they could just use American political consultants.
3 New Posts in PHOTOS
New photo from Terry, winter stream, Wales, UK. See post for image. In PHOTOS.
Swan sends macro abstracts of two objects photographed in the Hillwood Museum in Washington DC. Sony DSLR-A100. See post for images in PHOTOS.
6 new photos from Alex, who says: “(6) Sunrise and sunset shots, Atlantic Ocean, North Myrtle Beach SC, Jan 2012. Panasonic Lumix.” See post for text and images. In PHOTOS.
“Social Conservatism”
To my knowledge this term first crept into the news around the beginning of the 2012 Presidential campaign. Everybody “sort of” knows which candidates are “social conservatives,” everybody “sort of” knows what political positions are entailed, and I have yet to see anyone explain to us what a “social conservative” is.
So I looked up “Social Conservatism” in trusty ol’ Wikipedia. Their answer is more explicit than I feared. And it seems to directly contradict the stated GOP theme of scaling back government restrictions on of our lives.
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the national government, or the state, should have a greater role in the social and moral affairs of its citizens, generally supporting whatever it sees as morally correct choices and discouraging or outright forbidding those it considers morally wrong ones …
Commander in Chief?
Wir sind nicht auf der Suche nach Erfahrung. Wir sind auf der Suche nach einer Oberbefehlshaber.” — Rick Santorum, Des Moines, Jan 2, 2012
(“We are not looking for executive experience. We are looking for a commander in chief.”)
BBC: ‘Are the Republican candidates all crazy?’
From BBC’s editorial by Mark Mardell, here’s what the Brits are noticing. (Click link to read the whole BBC article).
Danger: Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)
The SOPA bill would allow copyright holders or the U.S. Justice Department to seek a court order which goes against internet providers (instead of just against individual offenders) when websites are accused of enabling copyright violations or counterfeited goods. SOPA would place intolerable enforcement and adjudication burdens on websites and internet providers. SOPA would block U.S. consumers from blacklisted websites, either software or pharmaceutical. By all accounts SOPA is badly written, overly-broad, and vaguely worded. SOPA wouldn’t even accomplish its stated purpose. What it would accomplish instead is justifiably frightening. SOPA isn’t just bad law. It’s a stealth attack on freedom – a very dangerous thing for the country and informed citizens of any political persuasion. Read this article in Computers.
David Brooks on Republicans at Disney World
Watch Shields, Brooks on Iowa Debate, ‘Rattling Sabers’ Over Iran, Iraq War’s Legacy on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.
If you didn’t catch the remarks of David Brooks on PBS NewsHour on December 16, or again on Charlie Rose last night, it’s in the embedded PBS news clip, and I excerpted the transcript below:
What’s been interesting to me is the structure of the whole thing. The Democrats want to give the Republicans a tax break — tax cuts for the American people, and the Republicans are saying, no, no. We want more.It’s a bit like a parent going to a kid and saying, we’re going to take you to Disney World. And the kids say, we will agree to go to Disney World if you give us an Xbox and an iPhone. And the parents say, no, but you will love Disney World. Give us the Xbox. And then they say, okay, we will give you the Xbox and Disney World.
Ron Paul, Libertarianism and 2012 Issues
Ron Paul has been called the “godfather of libertarianism.” How did we get from a fringe backwater political philosophy to a serious national candidacy? We survey some snippets of libertarian ideology, and then sample some of what Paul would like to do to implement them. Feature article in Commentary.
On Being Careful What We Wish For
I wrote the quote below early this morning, posting it to my Facebook status and quotes database. The old truism says, “be careful what we wish for, because we just might get it.” To take one example out of so many, just look at the events leading the people of Germany into World War II: unemployment, inflation, civil unrest. Many there thought they saw a way out of a troubled two decades. The world remembers well the inexorable march of terror, secrecy and butchery that followed. Their nation was pushed into the Third Reich, albeit on false pretenses in a chaotic political time, but inescapably, this could not have happened without popular support. Mostly, ordinary citizens said they imagined their candidate would at least make the trains run on time, didn’t they?
Once we citizens elect any politician on a promise to denigrate, deny or obstruct equal rights for others, even others of whom we may disapprove, no longer can we trust in our own equal access to justice and fair play — even when we were secure in those beliefs before. — Alex Forbes
Seasons Greetings 2011
New photo from Alex, who says: “Season’s Greetings 2011.” The story behind this image is included. See post for images in PHOTOS.
Righteousness
It seemed obvious to me that overzealous righteousness has everything to do with it: the god-given notion that we have the right to define what offends us personally as an offense to the very universe, and that we somehow then acquire the divine right to mete out retribution of our own choosing without benefit of judge, jury, trial or verdict. Read this brief post in My Notes.
PBS NewsHour: Book Tells How Iconic Civil Rights Era Photo Changed Lives of 2 Women
As Judy Woodruff said by way of introduction to this clip, “Sometimes one picture is worth a thousand words … but sometimes, one picture can change lives.” The story of how one iconic civil rights era photograph changed the lives of two women is the subject of David Margolick’s new book, “Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock.” Ray Suarez and the Vanity Fair editor discuss the not-yet-finished story.(Interview by Ray Suarez, embedded video clip 8:54)
Watch Book Tells How Iconic Civil Rights Era Photo Changed Lives of 2 Women on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.
Sage Advice on Coming Out
“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me:” Huffington Post writer John Shore correctly identifies that particular specie of humankind who frantically tries to hijack any conversation about someone else’s life into a conversation about “me, me, me.”
Read the post in La Parola.
The Ol House …
“But an ol house will tell ya plenty, even if you ain’t a good listener. If ya walk into the kitchen you might see some funny look’n pencil marks on the wood trim. Heck … that’s where they measur’d the kids, ta make sure you was grow’n up! Momma and Daddy was try’n ta get ya grow’d … so they could get ya out of the Ol House!” — Brand new story by Frank Hughes, in Writing.
