Archive for 'political' Category
2008.06.14
I’m (Not) Voting Republican
I love political sarcasm. I like making fun of all political parties, even the ones that I agree with. Unfortunately for the Republican party, I haven’t agreed too much with them for a very long time. With that in mind, this video from the site I’m Voting Republican I found particularly bitter and sweet.
5 Comments | Catergorized: political2008.05.21
McCain’s Iranian Cold War
Senator McCain, I used to think you were a reasonable Republican candidate. I still wouldn’t vote for you, but I thought you had some common sense and that our disagreements were reasonable, unlike the current batch of neo-conservative idiots who seem to be running things. However, the longer the run for President in 2008 goes on, the more I’m seeing just what an poof you are. This is what sealed it for me.
The other day Obama said, “Iran, Cuba, Venezuela — these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don’t pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us. And yet we were willing to talk to the Soviet Union at the time when they were saying, `We’re going to wipe you off the planet.’”
You, Senator, think this is inexperience and irresponsibility because Iran poses at least as significant a threat as the Soviet Union during the Cold War despite the fact that Iran has no nuclear weapons (yet). Are you stupid, Senator? Iran is only a threat to us so long as we keep fscking around in the Middle East. You think we shouldn’t talk to them? Tell that to Nixon who got the ball rolling with China, or Reagan who helped end the Cold War. Both of them were Republicans. Yes, there was more than talk involved. Economic incentives in the case of the Chinese and economic destruction (against an already weak economy) through military spending with the USSR.
Talking works, Senator McCain. Not always, but if you don’t start with talking with the one that hates you and instead yell at them, posture, be the bully, then you can expect a fight. Worse, if you throw the first punch you are wrong. It shows you are scared, frightened. It shows that you have not enough confidence in yourself, not enough restraint; you’re immature, not an adult. In school you would have been punished for such bad behavior. I can’t believe that for your all your years you haven’t learned this. It makes me sad. I never expected you to win in 2008 but I had hoped you would redeem -to some small degree- the corruption, debauchery, aggression, irrationality and general stupidity of the Republican party. I guess I was wrong.
5 Comments | Catergorized: grrr political2008.05.17
Gay Marriage… Again
The California Supreme Court just ruled that homosexuals have the same right to marry as straight couples. This has, naturally, led to passionate reactions from both sides of the proverbial aisle. Personally, I am for gay marriage. I believe in the expansion of rights granted by our many Constitutions, within reason, not the limitation of rights. So I won’t go too much into the reasons why I support this decision but rather into the reasons why some people are against it.
1: Same sex marriage will ruin the institution. This is patently false. I think we straight people have managed that all on our own. My own parents are still married, but nearly all off my friend’s parents are divorced. At one point over 50% of all marriages ended in divorce. If marriage is a pact for life, it has obviously failed.
2: Marriage is an institution to raise children within. Really? What about couples who don’t want to have children? What about couples that do have children and physically or sexually abuse those children? Who’s to say that gay couples couldn’t raise children just as well as any kind, loving straight couple? Besides, domestic partners can already adopt, so gay couples can already raise children.
3: This ruling goes against the will of the people. I can’t argue this one terribly hard except to say that often the will of the people is often wrong. For example, slavery, racial equality, religious equality, gun ownership, various forms of taxation, etc. I hate to bring up the Nazis because they are the worst, most extreme example and people hate reading about them when they justify someone else’s position, but the Nazi party did have the overwhelming support of the German people in their day. They were wrong.
If we ban same sex marriage, what’s next? Should we ban it for non-Christians, too? Should we ban certain types of convicts from being able to marry for fear that their criminal ways will ruin the idea of marriage? Should we ban marriage altogether as a violation of blending church and state?
3 Comments | Catergorized: political rights2008.04.02
I’ve Done My Civic Duty: Jury Duty
I realize not everyone likes the idea of jury duty. Certainly it is not the most popular obligation on the planet. Personally I see this as a failure of the education system and of parents. Our Constitution calls for all cases except treason to be trials by jury, and I understand the wisdom of this. I’ve been called many times but never had to sit on a trial until now. Eight days ago I was asked to sit on a trial and though I wasn’t keen on the obligation I did not shirk my duty. Say what you will about our system of government, it is a good system and I will always stand up for my Constitution. The Constitution is mine as much as it is yours. It asks very little of us yet gives us so much. Sometimes not enough, but that can -and will- change.
For the first, and likely not the last, time in my life I sat on a trial. I had to listen to evidence given, weigh the veracity and compare that to the wording of the law, and judge a person. This is not something anyone really wants to do, but it is something we must do despite these days in which people feel entitled to the freedoms they enjoy.
I won’t deny that I’m glad my service is over but I also won’t lie that I am satisfied to have served my people and given something to this nation, even if just in a small way. There is no ideal justice in the world, but I think our system goes a long way towards fairness and equitability. Meanwhile, if you’re even still reading this, I will end things now. I’m mildly intoxicated and yet in quite a sober mood. Really I just wanted to say I’ve done my jury duty and am happy to have done it, and am happy it’s over. Why is ending an article so difficult when drinking…?
3 Comments | Catergorized: political rights2008.02.05
VOTE!
If you’re in one the States voting today, go out and vote! In California if you are an independent you can request a Democratic ballot when you sign in and vote in their primary. I did.
Stupidest local measure this year: a San Francisco proposition to acquire Alcatraz and turn it into a peace center. I’m all for peace (anyone is if you ask them correctly) but destroying a national monument of historical importance…? Vote “no” on this idiocy.
1 Comment | Catergorized: political san francisco2008.01.03
Sick of Primaries
Today the Iowa primaries for the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates for 2008 began. It kicks off months of primaries in which many states have cried and whined that they want to be first. And if not first then at least close to the front of the line. They “want their voices heard” since they think their voice is obviously the most important voice. This has slowly let the primary dates creep up and up because a few states can stand the thought that the candidates might not be paying attention to them.
Wah!
Here’s an idea. Everyone has their primary on the same day. Every state, sometime in May or June, has their primary. This way the candidates have to pay attention to everyone.
“Wah! Then the candidates will only pay attention to the larger states and ignore our states that don’t even have the population of a small city!”
Shut up and quit crying. Here’s a compromise. The populations of states are known. Have two primaries. The states comprising the 50% of the population that are smallest have their primary first, and the few remaining with the remaining 50% of the population has theirs two or three weeks later.
The election season has already begun and we’re over a year from swearing in anyone new. How can I be burned out on this already. I’m sick of the primaries and they just began!
4 Comments | Catergorized: grrr political2007.11.19
Attempting to Abolish Rent Control?!?
This is so patently stupid it goes beyond words. Yet I will try to write what needs saying.
Last week my friend Stinky Pork Chop (lovely handle, neh?) alerted me to the fact that there was a proposition in the works for California to do away with rent control. While alarming I didn’t think much of it because no one would be stupid enough to try and enshrine in our state constitution something so moronic. Then I read this article and it became clear. The proposition is primarily (but not only!) about putting restrictions on eminent domain because of the poorly thought out Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. New London. The trick is that the so-called “Californians for Property Rights Protection” group is sneaking in language that would ban rent control (among other things).
The provisions of this Act shall become effective on the day following the election (”effective date”); except that any statute, charter provision, ordinance, or regulation by a public agency enacted prior to January 1, 2007, that limits the price a rental property owner may charge a tenant to occupy a residential rental unit (”unit”) or mobile home space (”space”) may remain in effect… [emphasis mine]
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of eminent domain, no more than I am of modern homeowners associations and their neighborly fascism. Those smarmy bastards are trying to sneak in rent control abolishment under the guise of regulating eminent domain. Slowly but surely Californians are becoming aware of this situation and an alternate proposal called Eminent Domain Reform is trying to get their own ballot proposal up and running. It has one -and only one- clear mission.
The Homeowners Protection Act will prohibit the government from using eminent domain to take a home to transfer to a private developer.
I have no problem with that. I do have a problem with the slimy, underhanded, craptastic people at the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. You might remember them from such brilliant schemes as Proposition 13, one of the single greatest problems facing the public and private economy of California today, if not the greatest. If this were exclusively about eminent domain I would have less of an issue but it’s not. Let’s see if they can fsck things up even more.
1 Comment | Catergorized: grrr political rights san francisco2007.10.20
Ignoring the Law
There are a lot of laws on the books that are so ludicrous or old or too difficult to enforce that it’s staggering. They are the law, however. How does the system deal with this? Tim Wu has written a five part (actually six entries!) series called American Law.Who are some of the criminals?
What group lives in the greatest defiance of American law? Criminal organizations like the Mafia or inner-city gangs come to mind. But if you account for volume and time, otherwise peaceful religious groups like the Amish or Mormon fundamentalists are certainly contenders.
Not that religious groups are the only criminals out there. Almost every one of us in some way, whether because we sometimes enjoy prescription pills, tacitly support illegal immigration, burn a mixed music CD for a friend or (or course accidentally!) visit a porn web site once in a great while. Let alone that almost everyone fails to come to a full and complete stop at every stop sign.
There’s much here I knew but never thought about in the context of a legal framework, and it will be interesting to see where some of the fresher issues, like copyright in the digital age, will evolve.
No Comments | Catergorized: political rights thoughts2007.10.16
Why Hammer Turkey?
I don’t get this at all. To ensure the Executive Branch conducts its foreign policy in a manner consistent with American values the non-binding House Resolution 106 was created. It condemns the Ottoman Empire’s genocide of 1.5 million Armenians around World War One. Naturally people see this as an attack on the modern state of Turkey, which rose from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire. So Turkey is upset (sorta understandably) and the Republicans are upset (I think for purely political reasons) and the Democrats are pushing this forward.
Sorry, but shouldn’t this be a section in the history books? I mean, why don’t we pass another resolution condemning Germany for the Jewish Holocaust? Or against all the European countries involved in the black slave trade? Or on ourselves for slavery in the first place? More, even though those events happened should I, personally, be held responsible for slavery? So long as I realize what happened in its historical context and use that knowledge to recognize and fight against its possible rising again (slavery, persecution, genocide, etc) isn’t that enough? Heck, let’s condemn the Bible (the Old Testament at least) next for depicting events which describe genocide to the letter.
This resolution is stupid. Not for its content -these things should not be forgotten- but because it serves no purpose. At least no purpose I can agree with. I can see where it might be used to undermine relations with Turkey and thus the “war” effort (American involvement) in Iraq. If this is the true motive it is bad form. If they really want to get our troops out of there then do it honestly.
This resolution stink, Speaker Pelosi. Quit dipping your feet in the same sewage the Bush Administration walks around in. You’re supposed to be better than that.
No Comments | Catergorized: grrr political2007.09.01
The New Space Race
In case you’ve been asleep these past several years (decades?), the space race never ended and pressure is building right now as countries that were in no position 30 years ago to compete with America and, at that time, Russia continue to strive outwards. In 1969 America put a man on the moon which should have heralded a period of instant human dominance of space. Instead we pulled back. While America is still the strongest player in human forays into space there are plenty of players coming on strong. China, India, Japan, Europe and Russia are all pressing on while I get the impression America, despite its considerable successes, is losing its ambition. All the plans and rhetoric in the world won’t amount to squat if we don’t actually do something.
I have made no secret of the fact that I think getting humanity out in space and beyond the confines of Earth is a mandatory goal for the survival of the human species. Afterall, all it would take is an asteroid or two to kill us off. Further, I think it’s important to define the culture that will prevail as we push out. Will it be a culture that supresses its people (China, Russia) or one that believes in freedom and human dignity (America, Europe and a few others)?
Russia has just announced its intentions of building a permanent lunar base. They join China, India, Japan and others. Russia has been recently flexing its muscles and China recently successfully shot down a satellite. Combined with these country’s remarkable lack of human rights, clean democracies and abundance of crime and need to prove themselves on the world stage, I worry about them gaining a permanent foothold in space.
I know it seems possibly paranoid on my part to worry about these things, but once a nation dominates space, that nation’s culture will dominate the future of humanity simply by spreading their culture to new environments and worlds. Further, depending on their priorities, once established in space it would be almost trivial to prevent other nations from attaining a foothold in space through military actions. Ultimately I care about the survival of humanity beyond natural (ie. asteroid impact, etc) and human destruction (ie. global warming, resource depletion, catastrophic war, etc) of this world I also worry about the future culture of the human species. I think you should to. If it were possible to make space truly international I would be for this. Any student of history will see the difficulty (amounting to impossibility) of this ultimate dream despite best efforts. So in the meantime I choose us.
Other interesting articles I found while scouring for links in this post… A nice summary of the China/Japan space rivalry. Another article about China… Since America shut down their application to join the International Space Station they’ve decided to build their own. India and Japan plan on getting to the Moon and building lunar bases (which space faring country isn’t?). Finally, an interesting editorial ruminating on many things I touch upon above, but with wider perspective.5 Comments | Catergorized: political science technology
