Can’t Hardly Stand It
There's an interesting post over at the Freakonomics Blog about someone running an experiment to see if paying people a nominal amoutn of money will encourage more people to spay or neuter their pets. Not a bad idea. But what disturbs me is the mention of a similar program for...get this... crack addicts. That's right - paying crack addicts to get sterilized. Something about that really disturbs me.
Atrios asks a damn good question - why isn't the right all up in arms and frothing over Pakistan? Why isn't our government taking a tougher stance against them?
We're generally led to believe that Bin Laden is hanging out there along with some of his pals. It's a dictatorship with an unclear line of succession if that dictator ever accidentally gets in the way of an assassin's bullet. They have an active nuclear program. Their top nuclear scientist was handing out nuclear technology like candy on Halloween. The country promptly pardoned him for this and we didn't say a thing. Oh, and for the Malkins of the world THEY'RE ALL BIG SCARY MUSLIMS.
All hail those brave National Review Bloggers, fighting a war that is as "equally consequential" as the ones our troops are fighting (and dieing) for in Iraq. We should organize a parade for the writers of The Corner. We can have a Jonah Goldberg float! And ribbons and rose petals for those brave, brave warriors.
Glenn Greenwald, once again showing why he's currently the best Left Blogofascistan has to offer. Iraq is a disaster:
So, to recap as dispassionately as possible -- Iraq is falling apart. There is apparently serious talk of dividing Baghdad, or even the country as a whole, along sectarian lines. Sectarian tension is at an all-time high, with continuous reprisal mass murders, and the government appears incapable of enforcing the law or maintaining even basic security, and worse, relies upon the good will of powerful, well-armed lawless militias and death squads just to maintain the level of chaos currently engulfing the country.
Meanwhile, for the very first serious crisis which arises in the Middle East, the Iraqi Government is on the opposite side of the U.S., condemning Israel's actions with increasing fervor. All the while, the government does not hide its intent to maintain strong alliances with Iran, the country we are told is now the worst threat to American interests and world peace. And all of this is occurring while we have 140,000 troops occupying the country and the Iraqi government is dependent upon them. Imagine what will happen in terms of Iraq's allegiances if we ever actually leave that country and that dependence no longer exists.
Is it safe to say "we're fucked"?
Mao's Cultural Revolution and the right's talking points have some eerie similarities when it comes to the problem of the universities. Leave it to General J.C. Christian to show us the way!
And some decidedly non-political fare.....
Eat a Philly Cheesesteak this week. RIP Harry Olivieri.
I love the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest:
"I know what you're thinking, punk," hissed Wordy Harry to his new editor, "you're thinking, 'Did he use six superfluous adjectives or only five?' - and to tell the truth, I forgot myself in all this excitement; but being as this is English, the most powerful language in the world, whose subtle nuances will blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' - well do you, punk?"
Stuart Vasepuru
Edinburgh, Scotland