59 results for politics (View a list of all tags)

The Proclamation of Baghdad

c/o Harpers.org: "The following proclamation was issued to the inhabitants of Baghdad on March 19, 1917, by Lieut. General Sir Stanley Maude, shortly after the occupation of the city by British forces."

To the People of Baghdad Vilayet:

In the name of my King, and in the name of the peoples over whom he rules, I address you as follow:-

Our military operations have as their object the defeat of the enemy, and the driving of him from these territories. In order to complete this task, I am charged with absolute and supreme control of all regions in which British troops operate; but our armies do not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators. Since the days of Halaka your city and your lands have been subject to the tyranny of strangers, your palaces have fallen into ruins, your gardens have sunk in desolation, and your forefathers and yourselves have groaned in bondage. Your sons have been carried off to wars not of your seeking, your wealth has been stripped from you by unjust men and squandered in distant places.

...

But you people of Baghdad, whose commercial prosperity and whose safety from oppression and invasion must ever be a matter of the closest concern to the British Government, are not to understand that it is the wish of the British Government to impose upon you alien institutions. It is the hope of the British Government that the aspirations of your philosophers and writers shall be realised and that once again the people of Baghdad shall flourish, enjoying their wealth and substance under institutions which are in consonance with their sacred laws and their racial ideals. In Hedjaz the Arabs have expelled the Turks and Germans who oppressed them and proclaimed the Sherif Hussein as their King, and his Lordship rules in independence and freedom, and is the ally of the nations who are fighting against the power of Turkey and Germany; so indeed are the noble Arabs, the Lords of Koweyt, Nejd, and Asir.

Two More Officials Quit Kerry's Campaign

Kerry Meltdown?

Budget Forecast Drops by Same Amount as All Tax Collected Between American Independence and 1983.

The difference between the Bush's first budget plan, for the next 10 years and today's: $8,000,000,000,000.

NYTimes: "The long-term budget forecast has declined as much in the last two years as the total revenue collected by the United States government from 1789 to 1983."

The reason for some of this shortfall is 'investment' to stimulate the economy, but tax cuts and sometimes questionably misdirected hostility are not the same as investing in, say, secondary education. I'm a pragmatist and however unfair, this does work, but to a degree. This would be a choice of someone who prefers short term stimulants to longer term health - cocaine versus cardiovascular fitness (and 'would be' might actually read 'was', if you believed the rumors).

In the business world, this is the equivalent of corporate investment in longer term revenue by raising executive salaries and actually encouraging competition from other companies, instead of new product developement and cost-cutting existing operating expenses.

Whitehouse robots.txt

For those of you who don't know, the robots.txt file is something you put on your website to indicate what search engines shouldn't list. Is there perhaps something the Whitehouse doesn't want us to know? (for those of you who still don't understand, it looks like the whitehouse people ran a search on every document including the word "iraq" and added it to robots.txt)

Gen. Franks Doubts Constitution Would Last a WMD Attack

Gen. Tommy Franks, who successfully(?) led the U.S. military operation to liberate Iraq, says that if the United States is hit with a weapon of mass destruction that inflicts large casualties, the Constitution will likely be discarded in favor of a military form of government. In which case, I get a ticket out of the country. Scary stuff.

Grand Theft America

I got chills.

Mass. Court Rules in Favor of Same-Sex Marriages

The highest court in Massachusetts has ruled that same-sex couples are legally entitled to wed under the state constitution, but stopped short of immediately allowing marriage licenses to be issued to the seven couples who challenged the law. The court is giving the Legislature 180 days to "take such action as it may deem appropriate in light of this decision."

:::Dons Hooters™ t-shirt, confederate flag bandanna and tight white jeans:::

"Hey, it's supposed to be Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve! Hyuk, hyuk"

Kidding. This is great news, of course. Albeit total equality with traditional marriages might be a slow road. One step at a time.

My Views on Partial-Birth Abortion

I thought that I should further explain why I am against the new partial-birth abortion legislation in more detail, in light of a recent comment on that thread.

No one supports partial birth abortions, or any abortions for that matter - they're a horrible thing. But take this situation for instance: a mother finds 6+ months into the pregnancy that the baby is developing without a brain (which is often the earliest this can be discovered). Taking the pregnancy to term and giving birth to a stillborn child is probably one of the most emotionally difficult things that a person can do. Under this new law, use of partial birth abortion (which is the only recourse in this situation) is prohibitted. Also, let's say that there is some sort of problem with the uterus or with the baby's placement in it (something that only happens late in the pregnancy) and the mother and child are likely to die if it's brought to term. Surely partial birth abortion is justified here, but even in situations where it could save the mother's life, it's outlawed. That just strikes me as wrong. If it allowed for certain exceptions, I would have no problem with this law: I think partial birth abortions are terrible, though sometimes necessary procedures. But I think that having both the mother and the child die when the mother could be saved because of some religious moral idea is absurd to the point of being sickening.

Picture Hunt Time!

Count how many women are in this picture. At first this picture made me laugh, then it made me want to cry. Could anything be more representative of this administration's domestic policy and agenda than this photograph?

Oh My God

Is this America?! (seriously, read this, it is important)

There was a small opening in the ceiling, about one foot by two feet with iron bars. Over that was another ceiling, so only a little light came through this.

There were cats and rats up there, and from time to time the cats peed through the opening into the cell. There were two blankets, two dishes and two bottles. One bottle was for water and the other one was used for urinating during the night. Nothing else. No light.

I spent 10 months, and 10 days inside that grave.

The next day I was taken upstairs again. The beating started that day and was very intense for a week, and then less intense for another week. That second and the third days were the worst.

The Washington Post has this exposé on the topic:

Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the Arar case fits the profile of a covert CIA "extraordinary rendition" -- the practice of turning over low-level, suspected terrorists to foreign intelligence services, some of which are known to torture prisoners.

Renditions are a legitimate option for dealing with suspected terrorists, intelligence officials argue. The U.S. government officially rejects the assertion that it knowingly sends suspects abroad to be tortured, but officials admit they sometimes do that. "The temptation is to have these folks in other hands because they have different standards," one official said. "Someone might be able to get information we can't from detainees," said another.

Syria, where use of torture during imprisonment has been documented by the State Department, maintains a secret but growing intelligence relationship with the CIA, according to intelligence experts.

May Her Last Wishes Be Granted

This obituary caught my eye:

Word has been received that Gertrude M. Jones, 81, passed away on August 25, 2003, under the loving care of the nursing aides of Heritage Manor of Mandeville, Louisiana... Memorial gifts may be made to any organization that seeks the removal of President George Bush from office.

I Haven't Posted Much Lately...

Because I'm busy celebrating Protection from Porn week (c/o the White House). God bless America indeed!

Republican Newspeak

George Lakoff talks about how conservatives use language to dominate politics.