Jena 6

I'm not sure why people don't understand african-american anger over the Jena 6. There's all sorts of talk among (white) commentators about how this is an overreaction because the black kids are guilty of boot stomping the white kid. Therefore they don't make for good poster children of aggrieved racism.

 

Right.

 

Look, maybe its because I came from a rough little town in the maritimes but I seem to see this a lot different than a lot of more civilised urbanites.  As far as I'm concerned, if you create a "white" tree and then hang nooses from it... you are begging for a beat down by your black school mates. A three day suspension was too lenient for hanging the nooses and charges of attempted murder carrying 15 years in prison is far too excessive for the beating (the kid wasn't seriously hurt and attended a ceremony at the school that evening). 

 

 A one month suspension from school and community service working side by side for everyone would have been a heck of a lot more sensible for all concerned. As it is, racial preference seems to be pretty clearly at play here.  Keep yelling Al Sharpton. About time you did something useful.

Al Gore + Hitchens?

A Christopher Hitchens article that speculates on whether Al Gore will run for president after he wins the Nobel prize on October 12th.  How could I not post this?  With apologies. Enjoy.

Happy Parity Day Everybody!!

The Canadian dollar is equal to the American dollar for the first time in thirty years! Wow. It's just like when Haley's comet comes. Or a really perfect solar eclipse! So do not look directly AT your loonies.

Celebrations for this magical day should include impulse buying of sketchy vacation packages and punching book store clerks in the face!

Arribaaaaa!

Um... Man Made Global Warming Consensus?

Just a little disagreement from...oh... 500 scientists or so. You know the kind that publish papers in top journals.

To be honest though, I see a lot of potentially good side effects from combatting this problem even if it isn't real. For example, dealing with man made climate change has the side effect of providing incentives to create technologies that help us with that itsy bitsy running out of (inexpensive and easy to retrieve) oil problem.

Also keep this to yourself please. Al Gore still needs to win a nobel prize and run for president.

Brilliant juxtaposition

I found this at the top of www.reddit.com so you may have seen it already, but it's a brilliant policy juxtaposition exercise. I'd say more but I'd hate to spoil the surprise.

I Support This

 Check this out.  The link goes to a story about dutch muslims who are fighting for the right to become ex-muslims in the netherlands. I hope Islam comes to understandand accept this univerally but I won't hold my breath. The guys are in hiding from the death threats.

 

Don't think this behavior is limited to Islam though. Christianity hasn't wanted to let people out either. Jan Hus was burned at the stake. Martin Luther survived because of the protection of German princes. Religions are designed to be social controls and they will take as much power over the mechanisms of social control as they can manage to attain.  It's just up to us secular, separation of church and state types to limit their success.

 

Cicero Silence on the Provincial Election

Just a reminder to anyone that will read this blog looking for my analysis on the Ontario provincial election. Because I work for the Ontario government as a non-partisan policy advisor, I try to avoid Province of Ontario topics. I won't be commenting on the election and will work diligently for the Premier of Ontario at all times, whoever he or she may be.  With that in mind, I have a powerpoint presentation to finish...

 

Cheers

No comment I could make could top this.

I leave you to your own reactions.

Update

Update on that Libel Chill lawsuit I talked about before.  

Tacky

You aren't making yourself look very good, Brian. But then you always were terrible at public relations.

Al Gore 2000 in Vanity Fair

Here is an excellent long form article in Vanity Fair that you should check out. It focusses on the press coverage Al Gore received duing the 2000 election. It's good evidence of the self-flagellation that the United States is currently putting itself through over the Bush vs. Gore decision. Here's a few random thoughts to accompany the link:

• Man, I hated that election. I hated both of those guys so much. I thought Al Gore was a self important opportunistic exaggerator at the time as well. Mea Culpa. In addition, I had a history of being mad at Tipper Gore over her work with the Parents Music Resource Centre ("PMRC") to get labels on music albums.(I no longer have any such problem with it, frankly). At the same time, George Bush had received favorable magazine article coverage. They talked about his ability to reach bipartisan consensus with the Lieutenant Governor of Texas, as well as his proficiency with Spanish. Then I saw him speak for the first time and realised immediately his... intellectual deficiencies. So I went into 2000 not caring who won. I thought it would be a disaster either way. I've been officially proven half-right I think.
• 2004 happened. People like to forget about it. The United States didn't just elect Bush. They re-elected Bush. You might remember echoes in your head of the name "John Kerry". But John Kerry didn't win. You know that. What you might not realise is that Hillary Clinton is complicit in this re-election. She and Bill control a large swath of the organisation of the Democratic Party. Their plan to get Hillary into the White House required John Kerry to lose. I have no direct evidence that her organisation sat on their hands in 2004, but let's be serious, I don't need it. Go watch the tepid stump speech Bill Clinton reluctantly and eventuallty gave for John Kerry. Then send her a "thank you for the four more years" card with some excrement in it or something. (I do need to point out that incumbent presidents do win re-election almost all the time. So don't give her all the blame. But give her a good healthy dollop.)
• September 11th changed everything. The 2008 election will be the first real evidence of this. People have a bad....and by bad I mean VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY STUPID STUPID STUPID BAD BAD STUPID BAD BAD.... habit of looking at world events ahistorically. For example, they tend to forget there was ever a cold war when wondering why the US armed and trained Osama Bin Laden. They tend to forget (or not know) that the 1990s Iraq War never actually ended when discussing the foolishness of going "back in" in the 2000s. Likewise, one MUST view the 2000 election as happening at the very end of what I (and not only I) refer to as our recent "summer vacation" between the cold war and the war on terror. For a while the US really thought it had the leisurely latitude to vote for its president based on criteria that would normally be appropriate only for the election of a high school president. This year the opposite is occurring with Barack Obama being pinned to the wall at every opportunity for not having a resume that's as tall as he is.
• Speaking of high school presidents, watch the movie Election starring Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick. It predates the 2000 election, but is an absolutely eery analogue for it. The Gore anologue is the bad guy. Boy, times sure do change.

Anyway, as I said, just some random thoughts. Go read the article. It's a good one.

p.s. Sighing heavily is a perfectly reasonable response to listening to George Bush talk about issues. It's someone not sighing that should concern you.