It was of course, hugely amusing to see so many Republican Senators vote against the new GI Bill in the Senate last week, and John McCain justly got clobbered by refusing to cast a vote in the most cowardly fashion.
Why, however is no-one pointing out that the administration paid huge amounts of money to military contractors (read: mercenaries) but isn't willing to shell out the money to do right by the regulars, and indeed help recruitment and retention?
Thursday, 29 May 2008
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
From the department of completely unsurprising news.
Burmese Junta extends Daw Aung Sun Suu Kyi's sentence. The generals appear not even to have deigned to give some form of reason for doing so.
Perceptions of Voter Turnout
Doing some thesis research today, I stumbled upon this passage in The Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press on the Ukrainian parliamentary elections of 2002:
'On Sunday, residents of Ukraine displayed the lowest level of political activeness they have shown in any national election; voter turnout was 63%...'
So 63%, in elections for the weaker half of a 'Super-Presidential'/Parliamentary post-Soviet republic, in an election that most voters knew would be fiddled is regarded as pitiful.
Top estimates for the US Presidential election of 2004? Around 60%. One should also note that this surge in popular participation (as reported at the time) led to hours long queues at many voting stations and nearly overwhelmed the electoral infrastructure. The French saw almost 85% turnout in 2007's Presidential Election (a figure which would be considered absolutely inconceivable in the States) without any major hitches.
Obviously I'm making the point that there's something very wrong when the self-proclaimed 'world's greatest democracy' lags far behind even the FSU in its ability to count ballots, but what does it say when a participation rate of 6/10, pathetically low by international standards, is considered a good day?
'On Sunday, residents of Ukraine displayed the lowest level of political activeness they have shown in any national election; voter turnout was 63%...'
So 63%, in elections for the weaker half of a 'Super-Presidential'/Parliamentary post-Soviet republic, in an election that most voters knew would be fiddled is regarded as pitiful.
Top estimates for the US Presidential election of 2004? Around 60%. One should also note that this surge in popular participation (as reported at the time) led to hours long queues at many voting stations and nearly overwhelmed the electoral infrastructure. The French saw almost 85% turnout in 2007's Presidential Election (a figure which would be considered absolutely inconceivable in the States) without any major hitches.
Obviously I'm making the point that there's something very wrong when the self-proclaimed 'world's greatest democracy' lags far behind even the FSU in its ability to count ballots, but what does it say when a participation rate of 6/10, pathetically low by international standards, is considered a good day?
Saturday, 15 December 2007
Tuesday, 11 December 2007
Gorby goes designer.
This new ad for Louis Vuitton featuring former Secretary General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is frankly even weirder than this sentence. Sometimes I really wish I had a time machine, so I could gather up Marx, Engels and Lenin for a little chit-chat. After showing them a few photos of the McDonald's under the Kremlin Bridge juxtaposed with some of the tackier tourist attractions in Red Square itself, I'd whip this one out and say 'Karl, Fred, Vlad, you've got some OK ideas, really you do. But at the end of the day, this is how it all ends up, the last leader of a Communist super-power pimping designer handbags.' Somehow I think things might have turned out differently.
INTERESTING SIDE NOTE: The NYT reports that the bag contains a 'subversive text' concering l'affaire Litvinenko. Frankly the idea that this is some 'secret message' planted by ol' wine-stain is highly unlikely, considering he's a fairly vocal supporter of the Putin regime, and Louis Vuitton certainly wouldn't do anything to risk its rental unit in the massive GUM opposite the Kremlin, but hey you never know.
UPDATE: A Greek friend of mine drew me to an earlier, less dignified foray of Mikhail Sergeyevich's into the world of Madison avenue.
Friday, 7 December 2007
Sarkozy
I was quite divided on Nicolas Sarkozy for quite a while - I thought he
was justified in standing up to the Unions, but that he was
grandstanding during the Strikes, I liked the new co-operative French
diplomacy, but had concerns over his chumminess with Bush and his
superhero galavanting into Africa. However this report in RFE/RL Newsline has forced a conclusion:
Sarkozy is clearly an asshole. Which is probably why he gets on so well
with that other asshole Bush, and why he modelled himself on King
Asshole, Tony Blair.
was justified in standing up to the Unions, but that he was
grandstanding during the Strikes, I liked the new co-operative French
diplomacy, but had concerns over his chumminess with Bush and his
superhero galavanting into Africa. However this report in RFE/RL Newsline has forced a conclusion:
EU IN 'DISARRAY' OVER RUSSIAN VOTE. Reuters reported in Brussels on December 4 that the EU "was in disarray...over Russia's widely criticized parliamentary election after French President Nicolas Sarkozy telephoned...Putin to congratulate him. The French leader's gesture put him at odds with close ally Germany...and most other EU governments," which question the legitimacy of the vote (see "RFE/RL Newsline," December 3 and 4, 2007). The news agency added that "after two days of wrangling over the wording, the EU's Portuguese presidency issued a mild rebuke over the conduct of the election." The statement said that "the EU regrets...that there were many reports and allegations of media restrictions as well as harassment of opposition parties and [nongovernmental organizations] in the run-up to the elections and on election day, and that procedures during the electoral campaign did not meet international standards and commitments voluntarily assumed by Moscow. The EU hopes that investigations will clarify the accuracy of these allegations." On December 4, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi likewise congratulated Putin on his victory in the course of a telephone conversation, Interfax reported. PM
Sarkozy is clearly an asshole. Which is probably why he gets on so well
with that other asshole Bush, and why he modelled himself on King
Asshole, Tony Blair.
Thursday, 6 December 2007
Romney's JFK Speech
Found here at Talking Points Memo.
As nauseating and offensive as I thought it would be - a lot of implying that 'In God we Trust' and 'One Nation Under God' were the work of the Founding Fathers and not the small-minds of the Eisenhower administration. The ridiculous notion that 'freedom and religion' are somehow inextricably intertwined (tell it to the Pope, or indeed the Iranians) and a reference to 'menorahs' and 'nativity scenes' during the 'holiday seasons' lending the not-so-subtle implication that Judaism and Christianity are the only real faiths and everything else is just heathenism. And on and on, ending in the stupid and untenable idea that while Church and State are separate, Religion and State are somehow not.
I have no problem with Mormons, or even particularly devout religious people. They should have as much a chance to run for office as anyone else. But at the end of the day Romney is running for the nomination of a party whose trogolodyte base regards his religion as an illegitimate cult, and think that only fellow ignorant mouth-breathers that share their own militantly intolerant view of 'gawd' (particularly his hatred of homosexuals, and going back a bit, desegregation) are entitled to be President (and who revere the current holder of that once august office with a passion that only those with a willingness to deny, and indeed a hatred of, reality can maintain.) If Romney were sincere in his belief in his 'nation's symphony of faith' he wouldn't be running as a Republican. Hell one even wonders what kind of Mormon he is when he's willing to pander to the most reactionary instincts of a crowd that finds such a 'symphony' inherently repellent.
As nauseating and offensive as I thought it would be - a lot of implying that 'In God we Trust' and 'One Nation Under God' were the work of the Founding Fathers and not the small-minds of the Eisenhower administration. The ridiculous notion that 'freedom and religion' are somehow inextricably intertwined (tell it to the Pope, or indeed the Iranians) and a reference to 'menorahs' and 'nativity scenes' during the 'holiday seasons' lending the not-so-subtle implication that Judaism and Christianity are the only real faiths and everything else is just heathenism. And on and on, ending in the stupid and untenable idea that while Church and State are separate, Religion and State are somehow not.
I have no problem with Mormons, or even particularly devout religious people. They should have as much a chance to run for office as anyone else. But at the end of the day Romney is running for the nomination of a party whose trogolodyte base regards his religion as an illegitimate cult, and think that only fellow ignorant mouth-breathers that share their own militantly intolerant view of 'gawd' (particularly his hatred of homosexuals, and going back a bit, desegregation) are entitled to be President (and who revere the current holder of that once august office with a passion that only those with a willingness to deny, and indeed a hatred of, reality can maintain.) If Romney were sincere in his belief in his 'nation's symphony of faith' he wouldn't be running as a Republican. Hell one even wonders what kind of Mormon he is when he's willing to pander to the most reactionary instincts of a crowd that finds such a 'symphony' inherently repellent.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
