Sunday, November 15, 2009
Current Affairs ...
A lot has been said in the press and in the blogosphere over the past few weeks about Major Hasan and the massacre that he carried out at Ft. Hood, Texas, seemingly in the name of radical Islamic beliefs. To many people, however, the Islamic angle does NOT seem to be relevant, even though a lot of evidence points to Major Hasan’s involvement with “jihaddist” proselytizers and his acceptance of their dogmas. They point to Hasan’s many problems in life, and conclude that his actions were a function of universal human weakness and not specific beliefs.
I myself sympathize with those who espouse that line of thought, including many high-level commanders within the Army itself. They are trying to take the high road, so as to discourage others from taking the low road (i.e., blanket prejudice against all Muslims or Arabs). However, I myself feel that semi-conservative (or sometimes quasi-conservative) NY Times columnist David Brooks came close to getting it right on this point. In a recent column, Brooks concluded that although the dangers of Hasan’s actions fanning irrational hatred and prejudice in our nation against those with an Islamic heritage are quite real, the truth is that certain quarters of modern Islam do put forth dangerous ideas; ideas that a disturbed person like Major Hasan might act upon in violent fashion.
Yes, radical jihad emanates from a small and » continue reading …
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Current Affairs ... Politics ...
Back to the international scene for a moment. Regarding three middle-eastern countries, I have two notes of interest:
1) A note of irony: The guy we were rooting for in Iran just a few months ago — Hossein Moussavi — is speaking out against any uranium deal with Obama. “If the promises given [to the West] are realized, then the hard work of thousands of scientists would be ruined” according to Mr. Moussavi.
So, last summer’s “Green Revolution” in Iran is still nuclear. » continue reading …
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Current Affairs ... Public Policy ...
I hate to say it, but I’m coming to agree with VP Joe Biden, that the USA should start throttling down its military effort in Afghanistan instead of ramping up as General McChrystal recommends. When our troops first went there in late 2001, it made lots of sense. We had an easy-to-understand mission (shut down the al Qaeda operations there and overthrow the Taliban government that was supporting it), and found some committed allies on the local level – i.e., the Northern Alliance.
What ever happened to the Northern Alliance? In a nutshell, the USA decided to go with democracy and side with whomever could rig – errr, win a nationwide election. That would be Hamid Karzai and company. Unfortunately, Karzai appears to be corrupt and increasingly unpopular. Any attempt at central government in Afghanistan has a rough field to hoe; but a corrupt one is probably an exercise in futility. The provinces aren’t likely to be very enthusiastic about getting shook down in return for a national identity that they just aren’t interested in. They just want to grow their goats and opium, there is hardly any national economy to get involved with.
I don’t know the whole story about the Northern Alliance, » continue reading …
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Current Affairs ... Society ...
Are we living in a time of “anomie”? Sociologist Emile Durkheim defined anomie as the time between the breakdown of one social order and the establishment of a new one. During times of anomie, people are often confused, as they lack clear rules on how to live and relate with each other.
I think that we are in such a time. I believe that until the 1970s there was a dominant social order in America built around the suburbs, the manufacturing economy, and advancing science and technology. Although we still have suburbs and advancing science and technology (the manufacturing economy was DOA by the mid 1980s), we aren’t quite as enthused about them as we once were; we are no longer willing to build a social narrative around them.
The modernist suburban-industrial social order started breaking down » continue reading …
Monday, September 28, 2009
Current Affairs ... Politics ...
When you’re a teenager, you may hear lectures from civics teachers and other adults telling you that it will be your responsibility as an adult American citizen to become familiar with the great issues facing our nation and to express your opinion on them through voting, writing your representatives, speaking at townhall meetings, etc. But how many adults actually do this? In 2008, the year of Obama, 56.8% of the adult population voted, the highest percentage since 1968. That’s good, but it’s still not that much more than half-and-half.
As to townhall meetings, they made a comeback this past summer amidst the health care debate. But in reality, townhall debates are mostly a footnote to the overall political process in our country. The summer townhall discussions on health care were an interesting side show, a welcome news item for the media during the summer news lul. But in the end they didn’t amount to much more than a rodeo clown along side the bulls and cowboys of health care politics. Ditto for letters (and now e-mails) and phone calls to your elected officials.
This stuff may have made a real difference in ancient Athens, » continue reading …
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Current Affairs ... Politics ...
After hearing about the recent ACORN “video scandal” (whereby James O’Keefe, a conservative version of Michael Moore, walked into various ACORN offices posing as a pimp together with a young woman posing as a hooker, and requested info on how to bilk the government of home purchase subsidies), I couldn’t help but wonder what Saul Alinsky would have said.
The late, great Alinsky was of course the father of community organizing and made his name vilifying the powerful and the rich. His first reaction, no doubt, would have been to bring fire down upon Glenn Beck and FOX News for airing the videos. He certainly would have cast them as lackeys of the wealthy, and would have defended the hapless ACORN workers who provided helpful suggestions on how a hooker and a pimp could put one over on the feds. He would have reminded us in no uncertain terms about the oppressed American underclass, which includes a lot of prostitutes and criminals.
Alinsky was a firebrand, the kind that is sorely missed today. » continue reading …
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Current Affairs ... Foreign Relations/World Affairs ...
President Obama is now making some major decisions regarding Iran. Recall that he set a deadline of Sept. 30 for the start of talks regarding their nuclear program. If they didn’t play ball, the US was to seek severe economic sanctions against Iran in the UN, especially regarding gasoline imports (for some odd reason, Iran can’t make much gasoline, despite having lots of oil). Well, Iranian President A’jad and company came back with a counter-proposal for six-nation talks (including the US). These talks would NOT address the Iranian uranium program, under Iran’s proposal; but further talks about the nuke issue could be talked about at these talks. So Iran in effect answered the US by proposing to talk about talks, but that Iran’s best friends (China and Russia) also have to be there.
Various analysts feel that Iran is just stalling for time, given that they are within a year or so of having enough enriched uranium to build nuclear weapons. The US intelligence community just issued a report saying that Iran is not actively developing nuclear weapons at present; Germany’s BND intelligence agency reportedly feels that it is. Also, the IAEA seems to think that Iran is working on a nuclear explosion triggering device, along with a carrying-case intended to fit into a missile nose cone.
Nonetheless, President Obama has decided to take Iran up » continue reading …
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Current Affairs ... Public Policy ...
One of the biggest yet most unanswered questions about health care reform is, why do we need it? This past Wednesday, the President gave a speech before Congress making the case for his own health care plan (and finally offering some more details on just what that plan is). During his speech, he acknowledged his critics who cite polls showing that between 80 to 85 percent of Americans are generally satisfied with the health care they receive, including those without formal health care coverage (who pay out-of-pocket or receive charitable care at emergency rooms). However, he then countered with the unfairness argument, i.e. that many insurers impose arbitrary rules which impact badly on people in certain cases. One of his poster children was a Texas woman with breast cancer whose insurance was canceled right before a double mastectomy because she hadn’t declared a previous case of acne (ah, and also her rapid heartbeat, which she didn’t think was relevant to her health condition). In other words, that 15 to 20 percent of Americans who are NOT satisfied with their care are really getting some very raw deals. And who knows if you or I will be the next one to get such a deal in time of need, even if we are happy with whatever health care we’ve received so far.
OK, President Obama does have a point. However, he and our political leadership in general (Democrat and Republican) have failed to make the public aware of the more widespread social and economic dangers that lurk if the present trends in health care continue. You would need to take the time to read long articles (such as David Goldhill’s brilliant exposition of the crisis within the health system the September Atlantic Monthly magazine) or government reports (such as those put out by the Government Accounting Office) to appreciate what is going to happen if health care costs continue to grow as quickly as they have over the past 25 years. It’s all the more scary because we’ve know about this problem all along and have imposed various reforms, such as health maintenance organizations on the part of insurers and Medicare cost caps on the part of government; and they have not stopped it. It’s like a monster movie where you try this and that to stop the ugly thing now coming at you, but it just keeps coming. It’s pretty creepy – and worse, it’s not just a movie.
What harm will increasing health care costs have? Well, they will prevent a lot of other good things » continue reading …
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Current Affairs ...
I’m a fan of The Atlantic magazine, but I’m not a fan of Atlantic columnist Andrew Sullivan. He can be interesting given that he considers himself to be a conservative convert from liberalism, but his views are mostly warmed-over liberalism, what you can get in droves on Huffington. But for whatever reason, I had a look at his Daily Dish blog earlier today; and can I believe my eyes? Is Andrew Sullivan actually expressing doubt about President Obama’s leadership? Sullivan, who last autumn put Barack Obama on the highest pedestal, who reveled in the Democrat’s landslide victory in November — can it be?
Over the past few days, Sullivan has posted two comments both entitled “Reality Check”. On today’s check, he shows a graph regarding Obama’s declining approval rating, and introduces it with a simple statement. Worth quoting:
Americans are losing confidence in Obama’s ability to bring change. Because he hasn’t.
What? Does Andrew Sullivan no longer believe » continue reading …
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Current Affairs ...
THE GATES ARREST: BEYOND BLACK AND WHITE — OK, here’s my 0.02 about the recent arrest of Harvard Professor Henry L. Gates by a white police sergeant investigating a report of a break-in at Prof. Gates’ home. Most writers take the bate and go right for the race issue. I’d like to go beyond that question, and instead focus on the general relationship between the police and the public. Yes, I know that racial status has a lot to do with how many police officers treat a person. I’m not denying that that is a real problem, an on-going social dilemma. But it seems to me that even between police officers and members of the public who share the same race, there is still a problem; and that Sergeant Crowley’s decision to arrest Professor Gates may well exemplify that problem, more than the racial problem.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-police. I work for a law enforcement agency; I’m not an armed officer, but I know a lot of them. They are all good people, in my book. But there is a certain cliquishness, a certain bravado that they share amongst themselves. And that has to be. Cops are the people charged with the duty of running into a crazy situation where lives may be at stake, and to restore social control and order. They are trained to go into situations where a Hamletian approach (my own modulus operandi in life) doesn’t work, and can even get you killed. I respect them for that.
But they also get sent into situations where assertion and bluster can be counterproductive. » continue reading …