The Growth of the Soil
Thursday, March 31, 2005
The American Taliban Exposed
mo·ral·i·ty
n. pl. mo·ral·i·ties
1. The quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct.
2. A system of ideas of right and wrong conduct: religious morality; Christian morality.
3. Virtuous conduct.
4. A rule or lesson in moral conduct.
eth·ic
n.
1.
1. A set of principles of right conduct.
2. A theory or a system of moral values: “An ethic of service is at war with a craving for gain” (Gregg Easterbrook).
2. ethics (used with a sing. verb) The study of the general nature of morals and of the specific moral choices to be made by a person; moral philosophy.
3. ethics (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession: medical ethics.
- posted by Anonymous @ Thursday, March 31, 2005 0 comments
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Coda
OK, I admit it. The premature death of Simon's blog has left me, well, glum. I find that my days aren’t nearly as exciting now that I’m not engaging the great problems and triumphs of our times. Getting picked on by Cyetain was also kind of fun too, if only to shed light on what a terribly depressed and irrational lot radical lefties are these days. Did I say “these days”? Forgive me. Maybe it’s just the case that recent events have allowed their views to rise above the water line (so to speak), and they have always, and will always, be as such.
So, I have hijacked this blog until Simon reformats the thing. Give me your thoughts, or wallow in benign ignorance! (picture me holding you up with a pen...)
The article I have linked to is a perfect caricature of modern moral relativism, which I believe is in part responsible for the recent electoral troubles of the Democratic Party. Middle America doesn’t frame it as such, but like Justice Potter Stewart, they know it when they see it. Quindlen is not only saying there is no “Culture of Life” (a prima fascia ridiculous claim), she is saying that all personal moral codes are relative, and thus equal: My moral code is as good as your moral code, which is as good as Idi Amin’s moral code.
This, of course, is rubbish. It is also a disaster for human dignity.
A moralist perspective believes deeply that life is a gift, and that not even the owner of that gift has the right to give it away. The case of Terri Schiavo is tragic, beginning with the fact that many Americans, their moral compass demagnetized by years of liberal browbeating, now place personal convenience and pragmatism over life.
- posted by Anonymous @ Wednesday, March 30, 2005 0 comments
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
The End Has No End
The time has come to put GOTS in its current form to bed. I started the site in January with the goal of creating a forum in which people who have influenced my thinking could have an opportunity to influence each other. There have been some great posts, and a few exchanges that made me happy that I gave this a try. On balance, however, I think this little experiment has run its course. Too often, the site has devolved into partisan bickering, opposition-baiting, and name calling. Simply put, I’m bored with it, and I bet you are too.
To everyone who contributed, I really appreciate the time and effort that you put into it. I, for one, often found my positions challenged or strengthened by what I found posted here.
Now, I said before that my plan was to put GOTS in its current form to bed. So, what’s next? I am going to leave the site as-is for a couple of days so that anyone who has contributed has time to log some final thoughts and copy anything that they would like to save off the site. Early next week, I will be removing all contributors from the site and starting something new. For the immediate future, I will probably be the sole contributor to the site, posting a piece ever other day or so. In the meantime, I will be trying to cultivate four to five regular contributors of short essays on politics, art, film, whatever.
I have not thought the structure of the site through completely, but I can promise that it will not be the combat zone that it is now. It is my guess that a few potential contributors were scared off by the thought of engaging in the Ultimate Fighting Championship that this site has become. If that is so, I hope that you will seriously consider contributing to the site in its new form.
- posted by Simon Marcus @ Wednesday, March 16, 2005 0 comments
Monday, March 14, 2005
Pop Quiz Hotshots
OK, a few question to get your minds thinking:
A) All things being equal, do you prefer to receive a dollar today, or a dollar a year from now?
B) Assuming that the interest rate is 3.8%, would you prefer $3.50 today or $3.63 a year from now?
C) Let’s say I owe you $10.00 in three years, and that the interest rate is again 3.8% (assume that it's 3.8% for all three years). Which do you prefer, $10.00 three years from now or $8.94 today?
Understanding the answers to these questions is key to understanding a part of the debate over Social Security.
- posted by Anonymous @ Monday, March 14, 2005 0 comments
Friday, March 11, 2005
President Participates in Social Security Conversation in Alabama
THE PRESIDENT: Let me ask you something about the Thrift Savings Plan. This is a Thrift Savings Plan that has a mix of stocks and bonds?
MS. WEBSTER: Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Now, how hard was that to learn how to do that?
MS. WEBSTER: And I chose the safe plan, government bonds. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: That's all right. Well, not so safe, unless we fix the deficit. But other than that -- (laughter). We're fixing the deficit. (Applause.)
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in supressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.
-14th. Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Section 4.
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
-Presidential Oath of Office
- posted by Anonymous @ Friday, March 11, 2005 1 comments
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Michelle Malkin on Giuliana Sgrena
Michelle Malkin does not have many fans here, I know that. But she makes a good point regarding the Sgrena story, more forcefully than I've seen it stated anywhere else.
The scandal is not that an anti-war propagandist has accused the U.S. of targeting journalists. That's par for the course. (Yes, hello again, Eason Jordan.)
The scandal is not that mainstream media sympathizers are blaming our military and dredging up every last shooting accident along the treacherous routes to Baghdad Airport. Again, no surprise here.
The scandal is that Italy—our reputed ally in the global War on Terror — negotiated with Sgrena's Islamist kidnappers and may have forked over a massive ransom to cutthroats for Sgrena's release.
Where is the uproar over this Islamist insurgency subsidy plan?
I hope that behind the scenes, we're letting Italy know how we feel about this practice. But instead of joining the world chorus in shaming ourselves, I would appreciate it if someone other than a far-right pundit were screaming mad about this apparent Italian policy.
- posted by Anonymous @ Wednesday, March 09, 2005 0 comments
Meet Steven den Beste
Yeah, it's a little late, since he "retired" as a blogger over a year ago. But his site is still up, and it's worth reading, maybe now more than ever. The link in the title is to an outline he wrote of the strategic situation in the Middle East vis a vis the US in July 2003. Follow the links to some of his other musings on the subject. Events have been kind to his insights and predictions.
Somewhat relatedly, there's a meme making the rounds these days in many of the begrudgingly appreciative pieces on Bush's foreign policy. It's not new, but it appears reinvigorated--a gloomy outlook on potential emerging democracies in the Middle East, particularly in countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The main concern, or reasons for pessimism, can be summarized as:
-The Islamists might win in a free election
-Even if the Islamists do not win, an anti-American government might win
Apart from the likelihood of these predicted scenarios, which is a subject for debate, other questions must be asked.
-Is this necessarily a terrible short/medium term outcome for the US, as long as a civic infrastructure is being created that will enable future free elections?
-Is this counter to our objectives of ending tyranny and eliminating root causes of terrorism in the region, in the longer term?
More broadly speaking, I wonder whether the fear of Islamist electoral victories is something to act on. Acknowledging that such victories are and well should be a terrifying proposition to many of the region's inhabitants, what if these opposition forces have the means (electoral process, reasonably free media, the internet) to combat Islamism through the political process? Islamism's confrontation with reasonably free and fair electoral politics, a political battle with a more liberal Arab/Muslim ideology, is an essential step in the transformation of the region. I don't see another way to a homegrown democracy there, even if the politically and culturally regressive aspects of Islamism, especially regarding individual liberties and women's rights, are unappealing.
UPDATE: This Onion piece is sorta relevant. Headline: "Bush Announces Iraq Exit Strategy: 'We'll Go Through Iran'"
ANOTHER UPDATE: Here's a sobering piece from an Iraqi blogger about democracy's prospects in Iraq. I would quote from it, but I deleted the intro stuff, and don't want my post to run much longer. Read this one.
- posted by Anonymous @ Wednesday, March 09, 2005 0 comments
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Politics In Art
I've been troubled by a response to some images that I posted a few days ago (see "Color Me Gone"). I have the impression that all backhanded remarks on this site are designed to be provocative, so I'm providing this link (cut and paste may be necessary):
www.theatlasgroup.org
I think it speaks for itself.
- posted by Anonymous @ Tuesday, March 08, 2005 0 comments
Monday, March 07, 2005
Friday, March 04, 2005
"Un Momentito, Senor"
A fascinating article about a fascinating man.
- posted by Anonymous @ Friday, March 04, 2005 0 comments
Credit Where Credit Is Due
It has taken me this long to finally get my hands in the Soil, and who'd've thunk it'd be to shower praise on the President, but... For the first time since Jan. 21, 2001, I woke up this morning to the newspaper at my doorstep, read a headline about the President, and said, "right on!" If the citizens of a repressed or occupied regime call out for freedom, America is their friend. The President's loud support for the Lebanese in their bid to cast out Syria may be his shining moment. It embodies a humble but visionary American foreign policy that says we will not dictate to the world what to do, but if a sovereign people initiate their own direction for peace and freedom, America will have your back. When I read the President's Second Inaugural, I was moved and supportive of this idea. It actually reminded me of President Barlett's announcement at his fictional second inaugural that so many bleeding heart liberals only dreamed could ever be real: that America would follow a doctrine of intervention when only humanitarian interests were at stake.
As always, though, the devil is in the details. And we've come to learn over the years that even when President Bush's words or vision point in the right direction, his administration can't put one foot in front of the other without tripping over themselves and breaking everything in the store. Execution is not their strong suit. So we'll have to wait and see how he manages the very uplifiting developments of late that reveal the potential for his freedom is on the march worldview. Liberals and democrats do not, and should not, oppose this vision. We all desire to see freedom the world over and the crumbling of autocratic and oppressive regimes. The how is often a sticking point. At least with regards to Lebanon, so far so good. Our fingers are crossed that the President continues to support this situation wisely. Caution as well, that while we all support the freedom peeking out from the darkness in Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan, and while the world support's President Bush and America as we help these reformers however we can, that provides no carte blanche for the radical ideological agenda the conservatives seek to implement here at home. Those headlines still make me cringe daily.
- posted by Anonymous @ Friday, March 04, 2005 0 comments
Shake it and See
One thing we all share here, with regards to conceptions of government, liberty and justice are assumptions born of the Enlightenment. Our country's arguably most important dealings these days are with countries whose leaders have been able, through wealth, brutality, cunning and luck to curb the inevitable progress on which we rest our (mostly) secular 21st century souls. Nothing suggests that the governments of our enemies need persevere, but the fact of their existence in this age prooves at least their stubborn viability.
Let's say that in its essence, since we can't really know what's going to happen, "shake it and see" is a fair characterization of the administration's attitude towards post 9/11 foreign policy (it's sort of a faith-based initiative). Given the costs of war, it would seem unconscionable to conduct hostilies under this direction. But consider the stakes, and how bad some parts of the world are. Countries, entire oil and tyrant-infested regions, are worth shaking up. Is it keeping your hands clean to let someone else spill innocent blood and oppress millions?
It's been heartening to see many paid opinionists consider the possibility that the status quo needs overhaul, death, suffering, risk and all. But I'm glad that what triumphalism we've seen has not come from our executive. I suppose the president's learned that "mission accomplished" is a resonant phrase with the American people. We had our revolution, know to us from history books now, and I hope that what we're seeing is the start of another one. The U.S. is playing its part, but other than our military men and women, Americans are mostly not the ones betting our lives on it. Willingly and not, a lot of people are. To them.
- posted by Anonymous @ Friday, March 04, 2005 0 comments
Thursday, March 03, 2005
More McCain Feingold Outrage
NOW does it hurt?
Hat tip: NRO.
- posted by Anonymous @ Thursday, March 03, 2005 0 comments
Following Through on a Vision
"Three years after the Taliban was overthrown in Afghanistan, the government of President Hamid Karzai remains confronted by widespread poverty and hunger, millions of refugees and displaced persons living in squalid hovels, rampant drug trafficking and corruption, plus major deficiencies in health care and education.
This, despite billions of dollars poured into Afghanistan since the U.S. invasion in late 2001...
In its survey National Human Development Report: Security With a Human Face, the U.N. concludes that while the U.S.-led coalition successfully ended the oppressive rule of Taliban religious zealots, inadequate attention has been paid to confronting the inherent socio-economic and cultural difficulties undermining Afghan society.
According to the report's authors, "human security" and "human development," rather than military force and diplomacy alone, are key to resolving Afghanistan's complex problems...
Although more than 54 per cent of school-age children are now in school, many areas still have no schools and adult literacy is only 28.7 per cent. Few girls attend school at all...
In the words of the report's authors, "Our team found the overwhelming majority of people hold a sense of pessimism and fear that reconstruction is bypassing them."
The report proposes government and donor-nation policies be more people-centred, taking into account the nature of Afghan society, with its ethnic, religious and regional differences.
But the continuing power of warlords and other power brokers, some involved in the lucrative drug trade, continues to threaten security, especially in areas where the government lacks effective control.
..In a controversial move this week, Karzai appointed Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum as chief of staff to the armed forces commander, an appointment apparently intended to appease Dostum and win Uzbek support during forthcoming elections..."
HARRY STERLING for Toronto Star
"Afghanistan's first ever parliamentary elections in over four decades will not be held on time as per schedule, a UN spokesman said here Thursday.
As per earlier timetable, the post-Taliban legislative electionwas set to take place in the Afghan month of Saur, which covers 30days between April and May ending on May 20.
"Election cannot take place in the month of Saur. It is not possible in the month of Saur because among other things the election law requires that the date needs to be announced at least90 days before election and we do not have 90 days to announce in the month of Saur," Manoel de Almeida e Silva told journalists here at a news briefing."
"Afghanistan’s government says it will take tougher measures against drugs after a UN agency report concluded the country was becoming a narcotic state.
The International Narcotics Control Board’s report found that opium production in Afghanistan last year reached 4,200 tonnes - 1000 tonnes more than in 2003.
...the World Bank says opium production has become the Afghanistan’s leading economic acitivity, locking it into a vicious cycle with drug warlords."
- posted by Anonymous @ Thursday, March 03, 2005 3 comments
How's Your Bookreadin Vision?
President Bush stands at 49% Approval Rating for a second month... but the devil is in the details.
52% Distrust Bush on Social Security.
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Only 60% of REPUBLICAN support Bush's Social Security plans
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Bush Only gets above 50% on Terrorism.
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Treasury Secretary John W. Snow indicated Wednesday that the White House might accept a Social Security overhaul that does not divert the program’s payroll taxes into personal retirement accounts, opening a possible line of negotiation with congressional Democrats but risking the support of Republican conservatives.
--Congressional Quarterly
The NY Times Poll is also very interesting.
- posted by Anonymous @ Thursday, March 03, 2005 0 comments
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
Seeing the Forest for the Bush
Jon Stewart and a former Clinton aide had a fascinating exchange last night on TDS. Check it out in the title link.
Is it legitimate to argue that Bush's guidance of US foreign policy has little or nothing to do with the winds of change that seem to be blowing in the Middle East? I think that's a laughable position, but I've been a vocal and strident supporter of Bush's foreign policy vision since he first announced it. Regarding the notion that this democracy thing is an accident or an afterthought, and that we fought the Afghanistan and Iraq wars strictly over short-term security issues and WMD, that's wrong. At least it's wrong in terms of Bush's on-the-record war sales pitch, which included numerous points. The links to prove that will be forthcoming if that canard appears (well, if that canard appears from anyone other than a certain poster whose position appears impervious to contradictory information).
UPDATE: A good place to start looking for evidence that the promotion of democracy is not some cover story invented after the invasion would be in the President's own words prior to the invasion, during and after.
Here are a couple of instances of support for the notion that US foreign policy, under Bush's guidance, may actually have something to do with what looks like some positive developments in the Middle East. A quote from Walid Jumblatt, who has excellent anti-American credentials, being a longtime leftist politician:
"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."
Strong words which I hope are a portent of things to come. If it would help Bush-haters to get behind these budding democratic movements and America's muscular encouragement of them, then perhaps it's not such a bad thing to wipe Bush's fingerprints from the WMD he dropped on the region's autocracies. But I hope that's not necessary, and I think that all but the most virulent Bush-haters will prioritize well their dueling passions.
Here's another quote, from a US-based Syrian opposition honcho named Farid Ghadry:
In my talks with the Syrians inside Syria, they are resisting demonstrating because as one human-rights activist told me: "President Bush has yet to call for freedom for the Syrian people." The Syrians are afraid to march without the international cover and the encouraging words of our president.
- posted by Anonymous @ Wednesday, March 02, 2005 2 comments
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Color Me Gone
Glamour, speed, and romantic fatalism.
- posted by Anonymous @ Tuesday, March 01, 2005 0 comments
"It were better that Ten Suspected Witches should escape, than that the Innocent Person should be Condemned."
Ahh... Taxxachusetts, "a large tax place" named after one of the indigenous tribes, the Massachusett, which translates "a large hill place." Home of such amazing Democratic presidential candidate as:
"A card-carrying member of" the American Civil Liberties Union!
It's March 1st 1691 in Massachusetts and Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba have just been charged with witchcraft. Soon over 150 people will be accused, 19 men and women will be executed at the gallows, and 5 people will die in jail. All for panic, superstition and religious zealotry...
More Below the Fold
<----->
Sarah Good was the Salem town Beggar, dispossessed by her father a French innkeeper, who committed suicide. She was known to mutter to herself.
Sarah Osborne was an elderly woman, bedridden. She married first, Thomas Small [Nevins] and second Robert Prince in 1662. When he died in 1674, Prince left his land in trust to his wife with the stipulation that it eventually be given to his two sons James and Joseph. She later married her hired hand, a young Irish immigrant, Alexander Osborne, whose indenture she had purchased. Although eventually the two were married, it would seem that there was prior impropriety. The two managed to gain full control of the Prince estate refusing to acknowledge the paternity of her sons.
Tituba was a Caribbean-born Native American of the Carib tribe and a slave of Samuel Parris. Tituba cared for Samuel's daughter Betty. When Betty began acting strange Tituba made a "witch's cake" (bad idea), by mixing rye and Betty's urine, cooking it (ugh) and feeding it to the dog. This was supposed to cause the dog to name the individual who had possessed Betty. Instead Samual found out and beat her until she confessed to witchcraft.
Tituba in her confession named Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good as co-witches. She was jailed and spared trial, later she would recant her confession. She spent 13 (spooky!) months in jail. Sarah Osborne died in jail awaiting trail. Sarah Good, professed innocence, and was hung June 19, 1692. For my money I would take the hanging over Giles Cory's fate. An eighty-year-old farmer from the southeast end of Salem Giles refused to enter a plea. The judge imposed peine fort et dure (its French for "pressing") to extract a plea.
They piled stones on his chest until he died.
Looking back on it with 20/20 hindsight, seems like some bad choices were made.
Massachusetts is one of 12 states in which the death penalty is illegal. The senate has tried several times to reinstate it unsuccessfully, and the Supreme Court has declared a referendum unconstitutional. So they may have BEEN crazy but they may have learned some lessons on the way.
Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, People's Republic of China (except Hong Kong and Macao), Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq (Suspended in April 2003 after 2003 invasion; reinstated August 2004), Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakstan, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Malaysia, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Authority, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Republic of China (Taiwan), Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Wow quite a lists... aren't we in good company! All of our friends in the Axis of Evil and more...
78 countries use capital punishment. In 2003, the US came in third in the kill your own citizens legally game, China beat us by a long shot 726, Iran edged us out with 108, we killed 65. The average number of executions per year, world wide 2242.
Though eight countries (Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, United States) allow executions for minors (under 18) the US leads by far in the actual execution of juveniles. Twenty-two juvinile executions have occurred since 1976 in seven states. Even China doesn't allow the execution of children. All the countries in the UN except Somalia and the US have signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits capital punishment for children.
LATE BREAKING NEWS!!
The Supreme Court outlaws the use death penalty for convicted killers who committed their crimes before the age of 18. The court ruling, closely divided at 5-to-4, affects 72 people in 20 states. The practice will also be banned for any future crimes.
In January 2000, the Governor of Illinois, George Ryan, was informed that since 1977 12 men had been executed in Illinois and during that period, 13 men on death row were found innocent. He announced a moratorium on executions in Illinois, stating ""Until I can be sure to say with moral certainty that no innocent man or woman is facing a lethal injection, no one will meet that fate." On January 11, 2003 he commuted all of the death sentences in the state:
"Our capital system is haunted by the demon of error: error in determining guilt and error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die. What effect was race having? What effect was poverty having?
Because of all these reasons, today I am commuting the sentences of all death row inmates.." --George Ryan
"Governor, if Kitty Dukakis [his wife] were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?"
"No, I don't, and I think you know that I've opposed the death penalty during all of my life."
Dukakis looked like a tool in a tank, but he was brave enough to stand up to the stupidity of capital punishment. He was derided for not loving his wife, pathetic.
Kerry opposed the execution of juveniles, supported greater access to DNA testing for death row inmates and argued that studies "reveal serious questions, racial bias, and deep disparities in the way the death penalty is applied." Kerry was a cosponsor of the National Death Penalty Moratorium Act of 2001 and of the National Death Penalty Moratorium Act of 2003.
"I know something about killing," Kerry says, referencing his service in Vietnam as a swift-boat commander. "I don't like killing. That's just a personal belief I have."
Damn those liberal Taxxachusians! Next thing you know they will want to treat homosexuals as equals... oh wait...
- posted by Anonymous @ Tuesday, March 01, 2005 0 comments
Checking In
Hello all. Just a quick note to say that I am busier then usual this week, and so my posting and comments will be very light. Additionally, I am working on a fairly long piece that I intend to post in segments over the next few weeks, so I am trying to put what little time I have into that. In the meantime, I hope that you all keep up with the regular posting.
In the next few days, look for a post from my fellow administrator Jabe about site activity. I was very pleasantly surprised to see how many people are frequenting the site and I hope you will be to.
- posted by Simon Marcus @ Tuesday, March 01, 2005 0 comments
Bush and Tongue Disease
It's quiet in here. What's the matter boys, progress and change in the Middle East under Bush's strong leadership and bold vision got you down?
Get right with history, gentlemen, before you start to look really foolish.
- posted by Anonymous @ Tuesday, March 01, 2005 1 comments
