Did Britain Just Sell Tibet?

http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=263019&subSection=Contributor&f=28

I came in with low expectations, but this op-ed has a decent history of Britain's relationship with Tibet. Also does a good job surfacing the international relations impact of the financial crisis.

Cutting the Fat

http://mobile.nytimes.com/article;jsessionid=FB8ED3D0EF75A15CABBA25C2A38E3FA1.w6?a=260986&f=19

Floyd Norris does a good job picking up on the important fact that a lot of the recent economic pain has been regional in nature.

Too much cheap land and old people migration in the south west and south east. Too many wall street day cats going hungry in Greenwich. The continuing slow decline of the rust belt - and people not being given access to the skills and capital to fill the void.

Hopefully this fact will not be lost on the new administration as people continue to call for blunt national solutions (stimulus checks, tax breaks).

Just when I think I am out they suck me back in!

http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmeganmcardle.theatlantic.com%2Farchives%2F2008%2F11%2Fhes_our_president_too.php

Megan had been sounding so sensible recently (especially on the idiocy of a big 3 bailout), I had almost forgotten how much her ideas can grate on my sensibility.

If you are a conservative, obama being your president obviously does not mean you blindly support every thing out of his mouth. But it important to sort out ends and means.

We live in an age of pretty narrow ideological differences. On many social issues there is a wide gap - think abortion, gay rights, social construction. But in most other areas it is pretty narrow. No one is preening for a new marxist economy, international trade is good (though there is lots of dispute on the details), and everyone agrees old people and children should be pretty well looked after.

Where liberals and conservatives disagree is in which policies will bring about those ends. Will vouchers increase competition and improve results, or do we need to provide more direct grants to schools in poor districts ? Do we reign in health spending by making consumers see more of their bills (rather than having a front loaded deductable and then thinking of your care as 'free') or imposing efficiencies on providers?

The point of this rant is simple. 'Accepting' obama as your President doesn't mean you need to suddenly accept his solution as THE solution (which is what was expected the past 8 years). But it does mean you shouldn't be rooting (and when possible promoting) for an upswing in violence in Iraq, or for schools to fail more of our children, or for the market to tank further.

Stop this Bombing

http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fjuancole%2FxAWt%2F%7E3%2F444177032%2Fkarzai-president-obama-stop-this.html

Note to US military. If your drones see 50 people dancing with rifles and shooting into the air, they aren't Taliban. They are likely a wedding or some other local celebration.

Taliban know about Preditors and are aware that massing in broad day light is a really good way to get themselves killed. Just because you are a bunch of culturally oblivious idiots does not mean your enemy is.

Support AIP

I want to apologize for so deeply over estimating the people of Alaska. Last night you reelected both your indicted Congressman and your convicted Senator.

Of course it is unknown how long until Stevens has to go off to jail, so hopefully he will have a few months to bring in some more Federal welfare for Alaskans. Maybe Todd Palin really was a patriot - I can't think of a better state to kick out of the union right now. Stay classy Alaska.

Third (and fourth) Parties

Three notes on them

1. Bob Barr must have run the worst campaign in history. With all the libertarian whining and Paultards he couldn't crack 1% in his home state. Pathetic.

2. Unnoticed because of the final tally is the fact that Ralph Nader looks poised to cost Obama the win in Missouri. Just imagine if things had broken differently else where and all waiting on the final Missouri tally this morning. Someone seriously needs to put that egotistical fossil down.

3. Whatever happened to that stupid bipartisan group? They had Sam Waterstone and Mike Bloomberg at one point. Now I can't even remember their name.

Why New Hampshire?

Question to the world. Why is New Hampshire obsessed with going first? They have the first primary and today I learn they also have the first poll to open - at midnight! - and close. Is defender of the republic really worth not letting your poll worker sleep?

I mean it isn't like they are furthest east on a map or the first state. Must be all the maverickiness.

It's about time...

... we switch the role around a bit.

To all those who voted today, good for you and I'm proud that you took your civic duty seriously, regardless of whom you voted for.

Political Endorsements -- Shut your pie hole already!

Carrie Underwood said she'd have no respect for you if you publicly endorse any candidate.

I do think she has a point about all the celebrity-politics craze at the moment, with some celebs sounding semi-informed (very, very, very few -- did I say very?), while others just come off as being downright stupid.

I, too, have reservations about political candidates becoming more a commodity for sale (in terms of trying to get elected and getting campaign money), rather than having an honest debate and comparison about the policies and philosophy that they represent. People that know me knows that "well the other side is doing it too" is never a good enough excuse for doing it.

Now, when it comes to endorsement as a general concept, I take issue with Underwood's issue with any person, organization, etc. endorsing a candidate.

First, there's the First Amendment. But of course the First Amendment only says that Ms. Underwood has to tolerate, but not like or respect, anyone for anything they say. That said, having no respect for anyone exercising their freedom of speech is like not having respect for the First Amendment. (I'm stretching it I know, but I'm making just as much sense as Ms. Underwood herself).

But more importantly, an endorsement (to me anyway) has always to do with information sharing and signaling than brand recognition and selling. It says "look, people that know me knows my character. I am telling you now that I think this candidate's character, philosophies, political objectives, etc. align most closely with mine. I think he/she is a good candidate for reasons X,Y, and Z, and I'm willing to vouch for him/her with my reputation." It is a reduced-form, cost-saving mechanism to increase the level of reach among the population.

Endorsements of this kind focus on the candidate, what the candidate is about, and really more about sharing information about the candidate (I'd like to say "facts" but I know we don't live in a perfect world), highlighting things that you like about him/her. An excellent example of such endorsements is one by Colin Powell.

What endorsements should not be is "look at ME!!! You gotta vote for X because I said so." Here's the golden example of one such egocentric, uninformed, and unhelpful endorsement.

If we all listened to Ms. Underwood and kept our mouth shut, most of this country will become like this. Oh wait, I think this is already what a sizable chunk of America is like. But hey, let's not make it worse than it already is.

Whatever your political inclinations, the cuteness factor is off the charts.

PS - this is the greatest prank call ever. Two Canadians convinced Palin's staff they were French President Sarkosy and punked her.



The good news is, if McCain wins and you have a problem you can just call the VP's office and pretend you are Thabo Mbeki or Michelle Bachelet.

We All Know What Must Be Done

Via Juan Cole, McCain spokesman Mike Goldfarb was on CNN today warning everyone again about Obama's anti semitic friends. The host asked him a few times to name someone beside Rashid Khalidi to which Goldfarb keeps repeating "We all know who it is" and smirking like a little bitch. You have to see it to believe it.



The whole thing is very reminiscent of South Park. In one episode the anti semitic Cartman is trying to arrange a second holocaust under the guise of support for The Passion of the Christ. At his little rally he keeps talking about "what we all know must be done".



I know all week there has been some running debate over whether the McCain campaign/Republicans are a bunch of racists. I think the differences here come down to a matter of perspective that the South Park clip illustrates pretty well.

Are the vast majority of folks in the crowd racists? No - they hear "what must be done" and fill in their own meaning. Is Senator McCain(/Mel Gibson) a racist? Definitely not (though I am a little less sure about Mel). Are Mike Goldfarb, Eric Cartman, and a huge chunk of the current Republican operative class racists? Even on this count I am not 100% sure the answer is yes.

But whatever all the actors personal virtues, when you step back and look at the forest it is absolutely undeniable that Cartman and Goldfarb and his ilk are trying to whip up pogroms against the Jews, African Americans, and Muslims. We live in a country with the greatest tradition of protecting speech. But contra Sarah Palin, that doesn't mean we should shy away from calling a spade a spade or keep offering a megaphone to these people.