The Cool Blue Blog

Daily Dish

A View from the Left The US Supreme Court stepped back from a Federalist position (again) and rejected the argument that States have the right to decide that they can legalize marijuana for medical use.

Terminally ill patients who smoke marijuana to alleviate pain can be prosecuted for violating federal drug laws, even if their own state laws allow them to use marijuana for medical purposes, the Supreme Court ruled Monday.

Is this a case of "conservatives" imposing their moral values upon an unsuspecting public?

Not exactly.

This was a decision made by the "liberal" members of the Court with the majority opinion written by Justice Stevens arguably the most liberal member of the court.

In contrast, "conservative" Justices O'Connor, Thomas, and Rehnquist wrote dissenting opinions

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote a sharp dissent, joined by Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Clarence Thomas, in which she accused the majority of trivializing past decisions that have curbed the scope of federal power. O'Connor said the decision "stifles an express choice by some states, concerned for the lives and liberties of their people, to regulate medical marijuana differently."

While Justice Stevens, writing for the majority, who included "liberal" Justices Ginsburg, Souter, and Breyer argued that such a law impedes Congress' ability to regulate interstate travel.

...the regulation is squarely within Congress' commerce power because production of the commodity meant for home consumption, be it wheat or marijuana, has a substantial effect on supply and demand in the national market for the commodity," Stevens wrote for the court.

The fact of the matter is, this case was about State's rights, Federalism, and the ability of a State to mitigate against overreaching regulation by the Federal government.

Surprisingly, Justice Scalia voted with the majority (not that it mattered since Justice Kennedy was the deciding vote) though he did not sign the majority opinion. Instead he wrote a separate, concurring opinion in which he tried to explain himself to all of us who are surprised

"Where necessary to make a regulation of interstate commerce effective, Congress may regulate even those intrastate activities that do not themselves substantially affect interstate commerce," Justice Scalia said.

Hmmm. Must be a finer line that than I can discern that separated him from the majority.

Justice Thomas' dissenting opinion got it right

"if Congress can regulate this under the Commerce Clause, then it can regulate virtually anything, and the federal government is no longer one of limited and enumerated powers."

Damn right.

But it is pretty clear that it is not the "right" who stood in the way of allowing Ms Raich her medical marijuana. No, when the left side of the bench saw an opportunity to strengthen the power of the Federal Government they took it.

And as much as the "left" rails against government power when Republicans have it, do not be mislead into believing that they are not supporters of concentrating power in the Federal government. Universal health care concentrates power within the Federal Government as does any increase in the Welfare State. And each of these proposals, if (or to the extent) implemented deprives people of rights and curtails free choice.

The actions of the Court in this case is anti-Federalist, and directly undermines the ability of citizens to take control of their political and economic environment.

And the actions of the court are in fact consistent with the core beliefs of the left.

Branded Arthur Chrenkoff in his 13th edition of Good News from Afghanistan points to this interesting tid bit

A crowd of 600 Afghan clerics gathered in front of an historic mosque yesterday to strip the fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar of his claim to religious authority, in a ceremony that provided a significant boost to the presidency of Hamid Karzai.

The declaration, signed by 1,000 clerics from across the country, is an endorsement of the US-backed programme of reconciliation with more moderate elements of the Taliban movement that Karzai has been pursuing ahead of the country's first parliamentary elections, due in September.

Symbolically, the ulema shura, or council of clerics, was held at the Blue Mosque in the southern city of Kandahar, the spiritual home of the Taliban movement.

At the same venue in 1996 the Taliban leader held up a cloak said to belong to the Prophet Mohammed, which is kept in a shrine in the mosque. He was proclaimed Amir ul-Mumineen or Leader of Muslims by the same clerical body, one of the few occasions the title has been granted anywhere in the Islamic world in the modern era.

Go read the whole thing.

Mouth It's pretty clear Howard Dean does not read the Dish. In his newest diatribe, Gov Dean announced that Republicans

"Pretty much, they all behave the same, and they all look the same. ... It's pretty much a white Christian party."

This of course would be news to Republican National Chairman Ken Mehlman who is Jewish. But insulting his opposition by employing derogatory stereotypes seems to be Deans stock in trade. Since I noted the contrast between his behavior, and effectiveness, and that of Mr Mehlman's here, Gov Dean attributed Democratic losses in elections to the fact that Democrats work for living, and therefore can't get time off to vote, while Republicans have all the time in the world because they don't work for a living, at least not honestly.<

Calls for Dean to shut up from his own party go unheeded.

Perhaps his audience, though, are simply people who think in large chunks and are comfortable with making blanket statements that caricature the opposition.

In which case, they deserve to be marginalized.

Daily Dish

Investigations John Kerry has heard about the "Downing Street Memo". Likely he's been reading the Democratic Underground or listening to Howard Dean speeches. According to Al Jazeera

Kerry said of the memo: "When I go back [to Washington] on Monday, I am going to raise the issue. I think it's a stunning, unbelievably simple and understandable statement of the truth and a profoundly important document that raises stunning issues here at home. And it's amazing to me the way it escaped major media discussion. It's not being missed on the Internet, I can tell you that."

The memo purportedly contains minutes of a meeting between President Bush and Prime Minister Blair where they discuss "cooking" the evidence needed used to justify the war on Iraq.

If true, the charges of course are serious and impeacheable.

Fellow Democrat Rep. John Conyers of Michigan is issuing a statement about the meeting minutes saying, "I am seeking information regarding the charges made in the so-called “Downing Street Minutes” that there was a secret agreement between the U.S. and the U..K to invade Iraq by the summer of 2002, well before the president sought congressional authority.  Please provide us with any information or leads you might have regarding such a secret pre-war deal, or other efforts to manipulate intelligence or provoke a response to justify war. We will treat any information provided on this site as confidential. Thank you for your assistance in this important matter."

I say investigate. But, of course, this memo is not enough. When Sen. Kerry says that he is amazed  "the way it escaped major media discussion" it is likely this is precisely because even the press needs something more than a "memo", especially after "Rathergate".

So find who wrote the memo. Get him or her to testify where and when the meeting took place. Find out who else was there and get their statements. If it all checks out, then prosecute.

This memo has been in existence for months now and yet there seems to be nothing but the memo.

Nothing at all.

And of course they will have to explain why it is that evidence needed to be cooked when Congress, in 1998, passed the The Iraqi Liberation Act which the President signed and wherein it is stated that

"Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 - Declares that it should be the policy of the United States to seek to remove the Saddam Hussein regime from power in Iraq and to replace it with a democratic government. "

Perhaps President Clinton was at that meeting with Blair and Bush, they should talk to him.

So get moving and show us the beef.

Or shut up.

Never Mind So it looks like Amnesty International got history.

Despite highly publicized charges of U.S. mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo, the head of the Amnesty International USA said on Sunday the group doesn't "know for sure" that the military is running a "gulag."

Not sure? Perhaps I was a bit hasty with the "got history" remark. Let's review.

In Stalin's gulag's, citizens of the Soviet Union who needed "reeducation" were exported to forced labor camps. Sometimes starved, they were certainly slave labor. None were captured as the result of military action.

At Guantanamo Bay, all there are given three squares a day, are not expected to work, have decent living conditions, and each detainee's religious customs are accomodated. All were captured on the field of battle. None are American Citizens.

But don't believe me ask the Red Cross. They've been there. The Red Cross has never visited one of Stalin's Gulags.

And the Red Cross apparently knows more about the situation at Gitmo then, admittedly, does Amnesty International.

I mean, the Red Cross has actually been there.

Culture Shock Is popular culture threatening women? Evidence that this might be so comes from Britain where a recent study found

A staggering 63% of girls would rather be glamour models than nurses, doctors or teachers, according to the survey by mobile entertainment providers www.thelab.tv.

The findings have been blamed on the "endless media coverage" of women who become famous more for their physical attributes than talent or achievements.

Is it endless media coverage or

"Taking your clothes off is now more lucrative than ever and teenagers see it as a great way of making money and becoming famous."

Of course, most people have a distorted view of the reality of being famous. Most who become famous would rather not be. Still

Of the nearly 1,000 girls surveyed, 63% found being a glamour model most appealing. A quarter thought being a lap dancer would be a good profession but just 3% picked the teaching profession.

Lap dancer?

Ladies, it is clear that girls need role models that are smart, pretty, and successful.

Or the next generation of women won't be found at MIT, but at the Holiday Inn.

Daily Dish

Predictions It's time to review all of the dire predictions made by Democrats in the run up to the 2004 Presidential election. The first one, of course, being that if Bush was re-elected, there would be a draft. This meme spread by Democrats and by certain media outlets got to such a height that at one point the Washington Post (in a backhanded attempt to promote the meme) conducted a poll which found that

Three in four likely voters currently oppose resuming the draft while one in five favor reviving it. Opposition to conscription is both deep and broad: Six in 10 likely voters strongly rejected the draft while only 8 percent strongly favored it.

This of course was the lead paragraph to a headline that read, Poll Shows Voters Reject Return of the Draft. There is no doubt that this meme was spread by Democrats through backchannels such as the story above. I mean the headline could not be construed as an attempt to change the Republican position on this issue since the Republicans had already rejected the idea of a draft.

Further in the article we read that

Two-thirds of all Kerry voters say a draft is at least fairly likely if Bush wins next month, while just 13 percent of the president's supporters agree.

Well here we are six months into the new term and there still is no draft. In fact, the Democrats who proposed the legislation were eventually forced to vote against it when the bill was brought to the floor.

The specter of a new military draft is being dismissed as "the hoax of the year," but Republicans are still doing everything they can to kill the rumor that has spread like wildfire among young voters and worried parents....The 402-2 vote, on a bill sponsored by a Democrat, was called by House Republicans hoping the vote will quash the persistent rumors which have seeped into the presidential campaign.

Rumors. Yeah that's the ticket.

A Kerry Ad that ran just before the election stated:

Announcer: They were hoping to keep it a secret , but we just learned that George Bush and the Republicans are planning to privatize Social Security after the election. Bush and the Republicans have already put Social Security at risk with a record deficit of over $400 billion. Now Bush and the Republicans have a plan to privatize Social Security that cuts benefits by 30 to 45 percent.
Bush and the Republicans, a plan to cut Social Security benefits.
Kerry: I'm John Kerry and I approved this message.

Strangely, they are still claiming this.

Democrats proclaimed the US economy was the worst since the Great Depression.

Well it seems personal income is up, GDP continues to grow at a nice rate, tax revenues are up (with a $58 billion surplus) despite tax cuts, productivity is up and unemployment is down to 5.1%: 3.5 million jobs have been added in the last two years. And the dollar is up. It seems Bush ended the Depression in record time since FDR never did manage to get the unemployment rate down to 5.1% during his whole, 4-term administration.

And remember when Kerry said that there would be a flu vaccine shortage even though he fought legislation that would have alleviated the potential problem? And Democrats claimed

the Bush Administration held back key documents about the flu vaccine shortage until after the election.

Turns out there was a surplus.

Oh, and by the way, I wonder how Michael Moore's film of the 2004 voting in Florida is going?

Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore announced that he is dispatching 1 200 people to literally watch the polls in Tuesday's presidential election in the United States.

The volunteers will be outfitted with video cameras to record any irregularities that might occur in the battleground states of Florida and Ohio.

I'll bet it's riveting.

WMDs: Again The UN is now claiming that the WMD sites they were watching before the war have mysteriously disappeared.

U.N. satellite imagery experts have determined that material that could be used to make biological or chemical weapons and banned long-range missiles has been removed from 109 sites in Iraq, U.N. weapons inspectors said in a report obtained Thursday....

In the report to the U.N. Security Council, acting chief weapons inspector Demetrius Perricos said he's reached no conclusions about who removed the items or where they went. He said it could have been moved elsewhere in Iraq, sold as scrap, melted down or purchased....

The commission, known as UNMOVIC, previously reported the discovery of some equipment and material from the sites in scrapyards in Jordan and the Dutch port of Rotterdam....

A third of the chemical items removed came from the Qaa Qaa industrial complex south of Baghdad which the report said "was among the sites possessing the highest number of dual-use production equipment," whose fate is now unknown." Significant quantities of missing material were also located at the Fallujah II and Fallujah III facilities north of the city, which was besieged last year.

But wait! Is the UN now saying that the WMD factories might have been there all along?

I'm confused.

European Allies If voters will elect them to office, the German Christian Democrats promise better relations with the US and while not breaking ties with France, warn the French not to make Germany choose between relations with France and the US.

"We always told France, 'Don't make us choose between you and the United States, because we probably won't choose you,' " Mr. Schaeuble told a group of young American leaders on a visit to Berlin organized by the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations and Germany's Draeger Foundation.

Schroeder and his Social Democrats made a political point of standing against the US during their last successful election cycle. But recently, the Social Democrats have been losing power consistently as their policies fail to improve Germany's economy and bring down unemployment which stands above the 10% mark on average and much higher in some areas. As a result of slipping political power, Schroeder has called for new elections.

Now Schroeder's opposition is using his foreign policy decisions against him.

Wolfgang Schaeuble, deputy chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) parliamentary group who is in charge of foreign policy, accused Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, a Social Democrat, of undermining trans-Atlantic ties....

Wolfgang Gerhardt, chairman of the FDP parliamentary group, said Mr. Schroeder had built an "axis" with Paris and Moscow, which was "neither in the interest of Europe, nor of Germany."

What's more, while Schroeder and the Social Democrats power wanes, the Christian Democrats message is on the rise.

Maybe Anti-Americanism isn't the way to win elections.

US Democrats should take note....

Population Crisis Europe in general is having a problem not only with economic growth but additionally they have problems with population growth. But a Swedish politician says she has the solution: More Porn

A Swedish politician says there should be more porn on TV to help boost the country's population. Christian Democrat Teres Kirpikli says not enough babies are being born in Sweden.

She believes that putting porn on television will put couples in the mood for sex.The 35-year-old mother of three told Expressen: "I want more porn on TV. For example every Saturday, all day. That will give people the lust to have sex."

Yeah, who needs Saturday morning cartoon shows. They're so yesterday...

 

Daily Dish

Lotsa Fun in da Summertime Now that summer is here, I start looking around for concerts I might want to attend. Obviously first up is the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival which starts, um, today! Cool.

But once that's over, who else is around that I might be interested in seeing.

Well first, there's John Hiatt. I've never seen him before but I've been a fan for a long time. He's written so many grate songs and his voice has that gravel thing going for it. It looks like I will have a few opportunities to schedule something in late June.

Lyle Lovett is another good choice for music. I've seen him before and he puts on a great show. Gotta love it when he tours with his Big Band. And it seems I have some decent opportunities to see him in late July. Perhaps in Central Park! That would be cool if I can arrange it. God I love New York City.

Keb' Mo' is always a great choice. I've seen him twice now and is probably the artist with the most rapport with the audience that I have even seen. To to mention that he is a stunning artist with some really great songs. Not lookin too good though for seeing him this summer. One opportunity in Lowell, Mass. But it is on a Friday night so maybe.

The Saratoga Performing Arts Center (aka SPAC) in Saratoga Springs, NY is a great venue and one I have been to often. This year though the schedule announced so far doesn't thrill me greatly. Though I could easily be talked into seeing Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in July or Brooks & Dunn in September. Not only is SPAC a great venue but Saratoga Springs is a great town. The Way Cool Wife and I love to spend time there.

Closer to home, it would be fun to see Hot Tuna at Higher Ground. I've yet to check out their new location, but if it is as good as the old location it will be one of the best venues in theis part of Vermont. Maybe Hot Tuna will be my opportunity.

It is looking like the Montreaux Jazz Festival in Montreal is going to have some great acts. Though I could definitly do without Tori Amos, BB King will be there as will Ernie Watts, and Robert Cray. But is that enough to make me want to go to Canada? To Montreal of all places? I don't know...maybe.

Hopefully other stuff will be scheduled as the summer advances. So far, it doesn't look like I'll be seeing Dylan this year.

Daily Dish

Polling... The Arab Newspaper "Al Arabiya" recently conducted a poll of the Arab "street" and the results are interesting.

When asked "What is stalling development in the Arab world, the answer is not "The Great Satan". In fact, 81% blame their own governments for their penchant for being "unwilling to implement change and reform".

When asked "What should governments do for a better economy", the answer was not "create a welfare state like Europe". Non. Only 7% preferred the European model while 53% responded with Provide the appropriate conditions for investment in education and healthcare" and another 40% said "Give complete freedom to the private sector without any interference".

Yikes! Fully 40% of the Arab street are Libertarians. Who'da thunk?

Relatedly, when asked "What is the most important factor that would improve your daily life?" again only 6% chose the welfare state as a solution while 47% chose "Ensuring equal opportunities in education and employment"

Again, it appears to me that despite what people say or believe, the US is servingas the model of political and economic system for the Arab. Just like I said.

...and more polling Zogby has recently completed a poll about people's attitudes regarding Social Security and found that not only do people think Social Security is a problem that needs fixing, but that many support private investment accounts.

The poll by independent pollster John Zogby for the Cato Institute, which is being released today, found that when voters understood the benefits of personal investment accounts, including a better financial rate of return than the current system, the Bush plan was supported by 52 percent of Americans and opposed by 40 percent.

But this should be no real surprise since all members of Congress decided a long time ago that private investment accounts were the way to go and even cut Federal workers in on the deal.

Its just not good enough for everbuddy else.

Democrats in the House Ways and Means Committe issue "reality checks" about private accounts that misrepresent the issue. The following is from Issue number 5

The attached article reports on Yale finance economist Robert J. Shiller, most notable for predicting the recent stock market bubble and burst, who analyzed whether retirees would do better if Congress replaces guaranteed benefits from Social Security with the private accounts President Bush has proposed. The study is available at www.irrationalexuberance.com.

So this analysis is flawed from the git go since no one, least of all the President, is proposing replacing Social Security with private accounts. The voluntary private accounts will suppliment Social Security just as the Thrift Savings Plan does for Federal workers.

So one must ask the question: If it is clear that when properly informed of the proposal, people want the choice of putting some of their money in a private investment account just as members of Congress do, why are Democrats so bent on mischaracterizing (dare I say lying) about the proposal to get people to not support it?

Could it have anything to do with making sure Republicans don't make progress on one of the last remaining issues Democrats own?

No? OK, then why?

Trust Me Scientists have found a way to unleash your trusting nature

Swiss and American scientists demonstrate in new experiments how a squirt of the hormone oxytocin stimulates trusting behavior in humans, and they acknowledge that the possibility of abuse can't be ignored.

It is not so much that it can be misused that interests me.

What interests me is what precisely is it that makes me me? Am I trusting or not simply because of a particular compliment of chemicals and hormones in my body? Or are the particular compliment of chemicals in my body there because of who I am?

If I'm not a homicidal killer is it only because I have better chemicals? Is there anyway that I can claim that I'm nice guy because I decided to be that way or because chemicals have made me that way?

I've thought about this alot, actually, and I believe that if left alone, a person will be a slave to their own genetics and the subsequent chemical and hormonal changes.

But I am also convinced that a person can, within some limits, produce chemicals, hormones, and other physiological changes that cause one to think and act in a way consistent with the way a person decides they want to be.

How do I know?

Because there is an observer which one can employ to observe one's own behavior, and over time, this observer can cause one to change behavior patterns.

Of course the mystery there is, what is it that observes behavior?

And what is it that observes the observer.....

Daily Dish

Cutter v. Wilkinson It is a rare event for the Supreme Court of the United States to render a unanimous opinion, but yesterday they did just that.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously upheld a federal law that requires state prisons to give inmates access to religious programs, ruling in favor of a Satanist, a racial separatist and other followers of non-traditional religions.

Inmates in Ohio felt that they were being discriminated against because their requests for religious articles were, um, out of the mainstream...

Among the rejected religious requests, he said: a crystal sought by a Wiccan... racist literature sought by a member of a white supremacist church,... and instructions for writing in runes, an ancient Norse language, sought by a follower of the pagan religion Asatru...

The state of Ohio claimed a number of things in their defense. First, it should be noted that they claimed the above items were witheld for safty reasons: the crystal because it could be used as a weapon, the racist literature because it could inspire, um racism, and the runes because it could be used to encode gang related communications.

But I have to wonder if a crucifix has been rejected because it, too, could be considered a weapon. Also why it is that racist literature would inspire any more racism than the racist himself? And an alphabet could be used to create encoded messages. You don't need runes.

Ohio's main argument though was, to me, rather odd. They claimed that the 2000 law passed by Congress which

...provides, in the relevant part, that “no government shall impose substantial burden on the religious exercise of a person residing in or confined to an institution” unless that burden furthers a “compelling governmental interest” and does so by “the least restrictive means.” In a nutshell, the act goes beyond what the Free Exercise Clause requires in accommodating the religious beliefs and practices of persons “confined” in “institutions” that receive federal funds.

that this law unconstitutionally "establishes" a religion; a violation of the First Amendment. Stunningly, the Sixth Circuit agreed. The Supreme Court, however, unanimously smacked down this absurd argument. Justice Ginsburgh, who wrote the opinion reversing the Sixth Circuit

reaffirmed that the Constitution leaves “some space for legislative action neither compelled by the Free Exercise Clause nor prohibited by the Establishment Clause,” and determined that the act “fits within the corridor between the Religion Clauses.” This is because the act “alleviates exceptional government-created burdens on private religious exercise” in state-run institutions “in which the government exerts a degree of control unparalleled in civilian society and severely disabling to private religious exercise.”

One has to wonder if this does not predict how the Supreme Court would rule if ever the "Pledge of Allegiance" case makes it back to their bench. I mean this very same reasoning could be used to say that the word God in the pledge does not "establish" any particular religion and the legislative action that placed it there “fits within the corridor between the Religion Clauses.”

Last year around this time, on Flag Day to be specific, SCOTUS dismissed Elk Grove v. Newdow because they ruled that the father did not have standing to bring the case to court to begin with, and thereby sidestepped the issue....somewhat.

In separate, concurring opinions, Chief Justice William Rehnquist and justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Clarence Thomas argued the court should have addressed the constitutional issue.

The justices said the pledge does not violate the First Amendment, which prohibits the establishment of religion by the government.

"To give the parent of such a child a sort of 'heckler's veto' over a patriotic ceremony willingly participated in by other students, simply because the Pledge of Allegiance contains the descriptive phrase 'under God,' is an unwarranted extension of the establishment clause, an extension which would have the unfortunate effect of prohibiting a commendable patriotic observance," Rehnquist wrote.

Not to mention that such a ruling would have to impact Wiccans in prision.

Given the decision in Cutter v. Wilkinson, it would seem that the rest of the court might very well agree. Justice Thomas in his separate concurring opinion to Cutter

restates his view that the Establishment Clause has been badly misunderstood over the last 50 years, and converted from a federalism provision — one that protected the states’ church-state arrangements from federal interference — to a general requirement that governments not endorse or even acknowledge religion. As he did in Elk Grove School District v. Newdow, last year’s Pledge of Allegiance case, Justice Thomas reminds us that the Establishment Clause prohibited Congress “from enacting legislation ‘respecting an establishment of religion’; it does not prohibit Congress from enacting legislation ‘respecting religion’ or ‘taking cognizance of religion.’” The act, he noted, “is a law respecting religion, but not one respecting an establishment of religion.”

Well said.

Daily Dish

Cedar and NeoCons Perhaps more stunning than elections in Iraq and Afghanistan are the elections that are taking place in Lebanon. Here, in the location of what was the only truly occupied land in the Middle East, the popular, non-violent uprising kicked out the occupying nation, prepared for Democratic elections, and then began the process. The first of three elections took place on Sunday in Beirut where

The son of murdered former premier Rafiq Hariri scored a clean sweep in the Beirut round of Lebanon's elections, the first in three decades held free of the grip of neighbouring Syria, officials said on Monday.

According to observers, the polling was "open and transparent" which is already an improvement over any election held during the Syrian occupation.

In using the US as a model for success, it must be recognized that political freedom is only part of the solution. The other part is economic freedom. Some may ask "why should Arabs use the US as a model?" Glad you asked.

The reason is that the US is precisely the place where Arabs have the most freedom and prosperity.

People of Arab descent living in the United States are doing far better than   the average American. That is the surprising conclusion drawn from data collected   by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2000 and released last March. The census found   that U.S. residents who report having Arab ancestors are better educated and   wealthier than average Americans.

Whereas 24 percent of Americans hold college degrees, 41 percent of Arab Americans   are college graduates. The median income for an Arab family living in the United   States is $52,300—4.6 percent higher than other American families—and   more than half of all Arab Americans own their home. Forty-two percent of people   of Arab descent in the United States work as managers or professionals, while   the same is true for only 34 percent of the general U.S. population. For many,   this success has come on quickly: Although about 50 percent of Arab Americans   were born in the United States, nearly half of those born abroad did not arrive   until the 1990s.

That immigrants do better than their compatriots back home is of course no   surprise. What is far less common is for immigrants to perform that much better   than the average population of their adopted home. This fact should prompt important   debates that transcend how Arab immigrants are faring in the United States.

Europe, it might be noted also has political freedom, but their economic freedom is significantly curtailed by high taxes due to the "Welfare State". Additionally, unlike in the US, Muslim and Arab immigrants are not integrated into society because there are no work requirements in the welfare state. As a result

...how does one explain why Arab   immigrants in Europe are worse off than those in the United States? Why are   leaders of Arab communities in France warning that social and racial tensions   are in danger of creating a “social and political atom bomb”? Sure,   France may be an extreme case, but the situation of Arabs in the rest of Europe   is hardly better. In general, Muslims living in Europe—of which Arabs   constitute a significant proportion—are poorer, less educated, and in   worse health than the rest of the population. In the Netherlands, the unemployment   rate for ethnic Moroccans is 22 percent, roughly four times the rate for the   country as a whole. In Britain, the Muslim population has the highest unemployment   rate of all religious groups. The failure of Arabs in Europe is particularly   worrisome given that 10 of the states or entities along Europe’s eastern   and southern borders are home to nearly 250 million Muslims—most of them   Arabs—with a birthrate more than double that of Europeans.

Clearly, political freedom is not enough. But it is just as clear that those who believe Arabs and Muslims in general are not capable of navigating the sophisticated political and economic waters of free societies are demonstrably wrong.

Arabs and Muslims as well as Christians in the Middle East are seizing the opportunities afforded by the fall and rebuilding of Iraq. Lebanon is just the most recent example of these oppressed peoples reaching for the golden ring. As opposition leader, and former anti-American Walid Jumblatt noted

"It's strange for me to say it, but this process of change has started because of the American invasion of Iraq," explains Jumblatt. "I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting three weeks ago, 8 million of them, it was the start of a new Arab world." Jumblatt says this spark of democratic revolt is spreading. "The Syrian people, the Egyptian people, all say that something is changing. The Berlin Wall has fallen. We can see it."

But the "neo-cons" who always believed in them, never doubted they could and would do it if given the chance. Over two years ago, The Washington Post profiled Paul Wolfowitz and remarked

Wolfowitz's fervent belief in what he calls "the power of the democratic idea" -- and its applicability to a part of the world better known for authoritarian regimes, many of them closely allied to Washington -- has won him both admirers and detractors.

To his supporters, Wolfowitz is a visionary thinker, a tough-minded intellectual with a streak of idealism. While emphasizing that he was not alone in calling for the United States to confront Hussein, they credit him with helping to devise a daring strategy for the Iraqi leader's overthrow that will reshape the politics of the Middle East in a way that will be hugely beneficial for the United States.

But how much of a stretch was it really? I mean, the power of the democratic idea inspired us. And when we were successful, it inspired others, like France. And more than two centuries later, America is still the model for freedom and prosperity. Still the Shining City upon the Hill, whether or not people want to admit it.

To say that we could do it but Arabs and Muslims can not is, in its essence, a racist belief. Just like not holding Arab nations and organizations to account is racist because by making excuses,the underlying thought is that can't do any better.

"I have never seen so much loose thinking about democracy," countered Thomas Carothers, a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who has studied U.S. democracy-building efforts worldwide. "The idea that you can produce a democratic tidal wave throughout the Arab world is a dangerous fantasy."

Is that so...

Parade Podcasting Yesterday I photoblogged the Vergennes Memorial Day parade and while I was snapping photos, Bob Robinson was podcasting the event. Go listen, your humble Cool Blue One makes a cameo appearance.

Landmark The 1,000th reconstruction project was completed in Iraq. Did you know that? Do you ask why?

BAGHDAD,<> <>Iraq,<> <>May 31, 2005<> <>–<> <>The public spotlight recently shone on an unassuming, eight-classroom school in the town of Zakho, Iraq, and for good reason. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region Division, responsible for oversight of reconstruction in Iraq, announced it had identified Betas School as its 1,000th completed reconstruction project.

The Betas School, located amid rolling hills on the outskirts of the town of Zahko, in the northernmost province of Dahuk, is home to headmaster Ibraheem Nuri, 60 students, and seven teachers.

But if you were to Senator Patty Murray of Washington state, we just catching up to all the wonderful things Osama bin Laden does. From Answers.com

In October 2002 Murray was one of only 23 senators to vote against the Iraq war resolution. In December 2002, Murray made the following controversial comments before a high school audience at Vancouver, Washington:

Osama bin Laden has been very, very effective being we've got to ask, why is this man so popular around the world?

Why are people so supportive of him in many countries? He has been in many countries that are riddled with poverty.

People don't have phones, no sewers, no roads, no schools, no health care, no facilities just to make sure their daily lives are OK.

He's been out in these countries for decades building roads, building schools, building infrastructure, building day care facilities, building health care facilities, and the people are extremely grateful. It made their lives better.

If OBL was busy doing all of this, why was Afghanistan such shit hole when we got there? But I really like the day-care facilities remark. You know, like mothers in Taliban Afghanistan dropped the kids off when they went to work at Taliban U. The only thing I know of that Osama built was terrorist training camps.

Of course, if Sen Murray had her way, the Betas Schools would not exist.

And they certainly wouldn't be teaching girls.

Daily Dish

         We cherish, too, the poppy red
          That grows on fields where valor led;
          It seems to signal to the skies
          That blood of heroes never dies,
          But lends a luster to the red
          Of the flower that blooms above the dead
          In Flanders Fields.

         And now the Torch and Poppy Red
          We wear in honor of our dead.
          Fear not that ye have died for naught;
          We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
          In Flanders Fields.

-Moina Belle Michael

Daily Dish

Remembering Col. Austin Bay spoke to veterans gathered at the Travis County International Cemetery

A group of Hispanic vets tends the graves of indigent American veterans buried in the cemetery. The place is one of those plots of ground with a decidedly checkered past. In the 19th century it was a “paupers graveyard.” The county buried small pox victims at the site, and –according to one of the officers in Tejanos in Action– victims of a plague that struck in the early 20th century were buried there as well. I suspect the land served as “a Negro cemetery” and “a Mexican cemetery.”

Approximately twenty years ago Tejanos in Action started fixing up the cemetery and handling the burials of indigent veterans.

The mother of Lance-Corporal Nicholas  S. Perez was in attendance.

An honor guard from Tejanos in Action conducted the flag ceremony. A bugler played taps and the honor guard fired a 21-gun salute. Tejanos in Action commander Jose Montoya introduced me.

Read his speech.

What hath she wrought Back in February, Italian journalist and terrorist sympathizer Giuliana Sgrena was abducted by terrorists in Iraq. After a while, the Italian government decided to pay a ransom to effect her release, during which one of her rescuers was killed. She blamed everyone but herself for what happened, including American soldiers. It is clear that she lied about most of what happened during her escape, but we don't know what her involvement with the terrorists was during her captivity. We do know she spoke well of her captors, which is more than can be said about her feelings for Americans in uniform.

Upon her release, Al Jazeera broadcast a video in which Sgrena thanked her captors for having treated her well, and in which she stated that she was taken hostage because her kidnappers are determined to free their country from occupation.

The Italian government, after the affair was over, while never admitting to paying a ransom for her release nevertheless promised that they would never pay to ransom someone again.

THE Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has promised President George W Bush that he will not pay more ransoms to free hostages in Iraq.

The Italian government has denied newspaper reports that $6m (£3.1m) was paid for the release of Giuliana Sgrena, who worked for the Communist daily Il Manifesto. But senior officials and intelligence sources have confirmed that money did change hands.

Not that Ms Sgrena cares, she's free, the terrorists have their million bucks, and it doesn't matter to her how many people were killed or sullied during the event.

Now the question is what will happen to Italian aid worker Clementina Cantoni who was abducted in Afghanistan two weeks ago by terrorists. Yesterday, a video of her was released by her captors. They showed her in good health, except for the guns being pointed at her head.

"Although we are encouraged to see that Clementina is alive and in relatively good health, we are deeply concerned about her safety and her well-being," he said. "Once again, we join the people of Afghanistan in calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Clementina."

There can be only one reason for abducting her, keeping her in good health, and releasing a video of her: they want to ransom her.

And Italy has a history of paying ransom thanks to Giuliana.

What are the chances that Ms Sgrena will offer to exchange herself for Clementina? After all, it seems she has good relations with terrorists. And it would give her a chance to redeem herself.

Amnesty Required The "Human Rights" watchdog group Amnesty International has declared the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay the Gulag of our time.

The 308-page report accused the United States of shirking its responsibility to set the bar for human rights protections and said Washington has instead created a new lexicon for abuse and torture.

The US is held to higher standard as we should be. We as citizens demand it, and our self-respect requires it. But Amnesty International obviously has no standards by which to judge us or our actions.

We have created a new lexicon for abuse and torture? Gee, I thought Hitler's planned extermiations of Jews, homosexuals, gypsies and others would have set the standard for evil. But perhaps the Left, whose staple of stereotypes of "conservatives" includes that of holocaust deniers, are the deniers themselves.

Or perhaps Amnesty International is composed of people who are not literate enough to have read Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956 and are unaware of Stalin's legacy of death and cruelty. Of course, any historian could inform them, but these folks probably get their history from Stalinist folk-lore, not from actual books.

One would think that what the Khymer Rouge did would be above anything Americans have ever conceived of doing, or Mao's cultural Revolution, but no, Gitmo sets the standard according to AI, which I note is also an acronym for Artificial Intelligence.

David Rivkin and Lee Casey writing for the National Review point out:

First and foremost, Amnesty’s report is emphatically not an honest assessment of American compliance with international law. Rather, it is an assessment of how well the United States complies with Amnesty International’s political and ideological agenda — equivalent to the grading of individual members of Congress by domestic advocacy groups. This is obvious from the report’s three fundamental measures of a good human-rights record, which are applied to every included state: (1) whether the death penalty has been retained; (2) whether the International Criminal Court treaty has been ratified; and (3) whether the U.N. Women’s Convention, and its Optional Protocol, has been ratified. All of these criteria involve controversial political issues where there is fundamental disagreement between right and left and — from Amnesty’s perspective — George Bush’s America fails on all counts. This, of course, is what you would expect, since the president is a conservative, elected by increasingly conservative American voters.

With respect to the war on terror, Amnesty’s principal complaint is that “[h]undreds of detainees continue to be held without charge or trial at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.” This, of course, is the installation that Amnesty’s secretary general, Irene Khan, characterized as “the gulag of our times.” Khan is either profoundly ignorant of the actual gulag, where Communist regimes “re-educated” political dissidents through murderous hard labor, starvation diets, and exposure to the elements, or engaging in highly improvident hyperbole. It is most likely the latter. (As the Washington Post editorialized, the “modern equivalent” of the gulag can be found not at Guantanamo Bay, but in Castro’s Cuba, North Korea, China and, until recently, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.) In a calmer moment, Khan might reflect that comparing American policies with which she disagrees to genuine atrocities committed by some of the most vicious and repressive regimes in history effectively trivializes the actions of those regimes.

While Cassandra of the Villianous Company blog (recently returned from a blog-vacation with renewed vigor) notices

-- According to a 2001 Amnesty International report, "victims of torture in Iraq are subjected to a wide range of forms of torture, including the gouging out of eyes, severe beatings and electric shocks... some victims have died as a result and many have been left with permanent physical and psychological damage."

-- Saddam has had approximately 40 of his own relatives murdered.

-- Allegations of prostitution used to intimidate opponents of the regime, have been used by the regime to justify the barbaric beheading of women.

-- Documented chemical attacks by the regime, from 1983 to 1988, resulted in some 30,000 Iraqi and Iranian deaths.

-- Human Rights Watch estimates that Saddam's 1987-1988 campaign of terror against the Kurds killed at least 50,000 and possibly as many as 100,000 Kurds.

-- The Iraqi regime used chemical agents to include mustard gas and nerve agents in attacks against at least 40 Kurdish villages between 1987-1988. The largest was the attack on Halabja which resulted in approximately 5,000 deaths.

-- 2,000 Kurdish villages were destroyed during the campaign of terror.

-- Iraq's 13 million Shi'a Muslims, the majority of Iraq's population of approximately 22 million, face severe restrictions on their religious practice, including a ban on communal Friday prayer, and restriction on funeral processions.

-- According to Human Rights Watch, "senior Arab diplomats told the London-based Arabic daily newspaper al-Hayat in October [1991] that Iraqi leaders were privately acknowledging that 250,000 people were killed during the uprisings, with most of the casualties in the south."

Perhaps Amnesty International doesn't read their own reports.

It is simply another example of how the extreme, dare I say Stalinist, Left discredits itself and thereby makes itself irrelevent. No wonder that Democrats who want to be successful running for public office try to distance themselves from people like this.

Unfortunately, many people who will buy into such absurdities make up a significant part of the Democratic Party. So much so that Democrats have selected one of these as their National Chairman to appeal to that constituency.

So long as Democrats refuse to purge their ranks of such people, as was done in the 50's, they can expect to lose more political power, to the point where they become irrelevent.

If such is not the case already.

Daily Dish

Memorials Honoring the fallen heros of past and present wars on Memorial Day is a thing that is not exclusive to service members present and retired, but there is no doubt that they, and the family members of the fallen, are the most sentive to this holiday weekend.

Blackfive writes

When Taps is played at dusk, it has a completely different meaning than when Taps is played during the day.  No soldier really wants to hear it played during daylight.  For when the bugle plays Taps in the daylight...that means a soldier has fallen...There is a belief among some that Taps is the clarion call to open the gates of heaven for the fallen warrior and letting them know to "Safely Rest"...

I have focused on just a few of the fallen over the last few years.  I've lost three good friends during the War on Terror.  And I write about the others to ensure that we don't forget their sacrifices - I do that for me as much as for anybody.

Greyhawk of Mudville Gazette offers this poem

Tending Distant Fires

Far from hearth and home, watching
Cold alone but not alone
On distant shore and only wanting
Safe return and little more

What tales we'll tell
When that time comes
When tales can be told

When things grim
Seem far away
When other fires go cold

Some distant sunset, vision fading
Memories remain
And tired eyes gaze 'pon folded flags
While distant drums beat their refrain

Saluting fallen friends whose names
And youth will never fade
Here's to those on other shores,
for them live well, the price is paid 

And fellow Vermont blogger Jeff Soyer has his own thoughts, and pictures to help us remember while Cathy Resmer of 802Online remembers Memorial Day with links in her post and from commenters.

Fleet Week Every year the Navy makes a port call to New York harbor and the Hudson River is host to a large collection of active duty warships. This year, over a dozen Navy and Coast Guard vessels are on station including CV67; the USS John F. Kennedy which last saw action in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Fleet Week has a dual purpose: allow sailors to visit New York City and give the public a chance to meet their sailors.

This year, many of the sailors took the opportunity to visit the site where the World Trade Centers once stood.

Hundreds of troops here for Fleet Week took time off Friday to attend two events to commemorate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — one a very public show of strength, the other quiet and private.

Almost 300 members of the Marine Corps and the Coast Guard took part in the first event, a three-mile run around lower Manhattan followed by a wreath-laying ceremony beside the former World Trade Center site.

As they stood under a cloudless sky at the site of the terrorist strikes, the group let out a shout that reverberated across the 16-acre gap where the towers once stood.

"The Marine Corps likes to be loud when they do this, it's a pride thing," explained Sgt. John Hoellwarth, 24, of Antioch, Calif. "They want New York City to hear them."

The other event was held inside the gates of the site, where new buildings will soon rise.

A small group, including a woman who lost her sister in the attacks on the World Trade Center and an Army reservist who helped with the recovery effort, gathered inside the footprint of one of the towers to pray and thank members of the military for their sacrifices.

Which is important, because sometimes, to these service men and women, it seems more like a war on  the military instead of the terrorists.

Buy Pfizer Stock Viagra, the drug prescribed to improve one's sex life has been getting a boost in sales from some state governments: they're giving the drug to sex offenders. For free. Well actually, you're paying for it.

The four Kansas sex offenders who recently have received drugs like Viagra on the public's dime may soon lose some of their romantic vigor, thanks to the state.

Romantic vigor? This seems an odd choice of words to be applying to sex offenders.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has called for an immediate halt to the practice of using state Medicaid dollars to pay for erectile dysfunction drugs for convicted sex offenders. The controversy erupted nationally after New York state found that it had paid for 200 sex offenders to receive drugs like Viagra, Cialis and Levitra.

In Kansas, 14 of 3,150 registered sex offenders have received the drugs since 2000, at a cost of nearly $2,100. Four persons now on the list have received a prescription for sexual performance drugs this year.

And it's not just Kansas, Missouri is worse

Missouri found 26 instances when registered sex offenders received the drugs thanks to taxpayers. Officials there have also moved to end the practice.

Texas' AG is blaming the policy for helping perverts reoffend

Two of the nearly 200 registered sex offenders who received erectile dysfunction drugs through Medicaid committed additional sex crimes and five now are fugitives, including one from Harris County, according to state Attorney General Greg Abbott.

Both of the repeat offenders were from Bexar County. One man was arrested for aggravated sexual assault within two months of getting a prescription drug. Officials are searching for the five people who didn't report to authorities as required. Abbott did not give any additional information.

"These revelations show that giving sex-enhancing drugs like Viagra to a convicted sex offender is like giving a can of gasoline to an arsonist and then lighting the match," Abbott said, although he noted that he can't say for sure that Viagra had anything to do with the crimes they committed.

And while it is exactly true that we have to be careful not to make the logical fallacy of non causa pro causa, it just makes sense that you do not need to help sex offenders increase their sex drive. Especially on the taxpayers dime who then has to pay to incarcerate them when they do reoffend.

I mean please, let's use some common sense.