Week of August 03, 2003 to August 09, 2003

Fair warningI am definitely liking

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 9, 2003 - 10:34pm.
on Old Site Archive

Fair warning

I am definitely liking the way my future MT home is shaping up. I just want to tell you all two things:

1- I am not moving any posts from here to there. No biggie, since anything bookmarked, including the static pages, will still work.
2- Not to be bustin' on ya, but someone out there has a browser that says it's Netscape 3. I don't know if you're going to like the new place as much as this one, because there's a LOT of CSS going on over there.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/10/2003 03:34:02 AM |

Manual trackbacks

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 9, 2003 - 5:28pm.
on Race and Identity

Terry at The Storm on the Democratic party and young Black folks
Rayne at Rayne Today, partly because she's as much of a walking extension of the United Nations as my daughter is, is looking for common ground.
S-Train at The S-Train Canvass gets honest about his feelings for America, and his feelings about those who doubt them. And you should be glad he talked to his grandmother instead of me.

And here's a track-forward.

I'll be reading some stuff that came up in connection with a post by Henry Farell at Crooked Timber:

Beating the system
Posted by Henry

Jon blogs below about winning office with a mere plurality, which touches on issues that political scientists, and theorists of a certain bent, have thought a lot about. Kenneth Arrow’s “impossibility theorem,” which I’ve blogged about before, indicates that if you make certain reasonable assumptions about people’s preferences, no possible voting system (or other means of social choice) can be expected to aggregate people’s preferences without distorting them. This suggests, according to the late William Riker, that democracy is bogus.

Riker argues that there’s no such thing as the “will of the people” - the result of any vote is as much a product of how choices are presented to people as the actual preferences of the electorate. The message is simple - there ain’t no such thing as a perfect electoral system.

…So does this mean that democracy is a sham? That’s certainly the traditional interpretation. However, there’s also an alternative interpretation, which has recently started to generate some buzz among rational choice political scientists. On this interpretation, Riker’s critique points instead to the need to enhance democracy, by privileging deliberation - deep conversation and discussion, where people try to resolve political controversies through reasoned debate - rather than voting. At least in theory, deliberation isn’t vulnerable to the sorts of problems that Arrow and Riker identify.

The argument goes that even if deliberation is unwieldy as a primary form of political decision making - it’s awkward, messy and takes too long - it can work well as a form of “second order choice.” In other words, deliberation is a lousy way for people to take day-to-day political decisions, but it potentially allows people to decide over the different (imperfect) ways in which they can take these day-to-day decisions.

This is right in line with what I've been thinking about,and trying to do here.

The really cool thing is Kieran Healy continued the theme on his blog and Crooked Timber.

Deliberative Democracy and Social Choice
Posted by Kieran

If you’re interested in the relation between deliberative democracy and social choice theory, which Henry has just written about, then you might want to read an interesting and constructive paper by two of my new colleagues here at the RSSS, John Dryzek and Christian List. The paper, “Social Choice Theory and Deliberative Democracy: A Reconciliation” [pdf] just appeared in the British Journal of Political Science.

And in the comments, one Chirag Kasbekar linked to a tremendous resource on this kind of stuff.

You think I get full of myself over mathematical metaphors? Ha. Prepare to get the shit bored out of you!

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/9/2003 10:28:40 PM |

Hard work

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 9, 2003 - 3:35pm.
on Race and Identity

I've said I would explain why it's so difficult to engage young Black folks in the political process, and I didn't realize when I made that promise how difficult it would be.

What makes it difficult is the fact that I'm aware of how varied the readership is here. I don't have the numbers of a Volokh or Demosthenes or Calpundit, much less a Kos or Atrios. But there's enough of you, and if there's any stupid people among you they've all been silent. This means that all of you will be capable of coming to some understanding of whatever I may write.

Yet all of you fall in your own individual spot on the political compass. And the two axises, as we saw the other day, are only two of a multiplicity of tendencies and traits that will actively shape what I say into what you understand. And the topics I've been most serious about…race and race relations, civil and human rights, the debt owned to and by society…are fractious in the extreme because of the way the topics were created by society. We are all shaped at least in part by these things because our society is shaped by them and we, in turn by the society.

There's no escaping it. As intelligent as you all are, society presents possibilities that must be examined through the lens of race, insubstantial though it be.

At any rate, it's hard, explaining this stuff. You'd think it wouldn't need explaining, as deep in it as we all are.

Sometimes I get full of myself, feeling I can show the roots of what I've seen. I just wiped out a considerable amount of work because it was just too much…how's using analytical geometry to build a metaphor for non-willful ignorance?

It's got to be said simpler than that.

Will you take my word that, because we have a different balance of forces working on us, most Black people don't see politics as applicable to the most important issues in their lives?

How about because humans as social animals need, on a biological level, to belong to an in-group? And that since it's obvious we don't belong to the mainstream in-group, we group among ourselves…and that the mainstream calling this self-segregation not only misses the point but amounts to an attack on our well-being?

Suppose I told you many Black people feel Black Republicans and Black Democrats represent Democrats and Republicans instead of Black folks… that "Black" is an adjective to them both (if you're really down, Black is a noun)? Would that help you understand the problem both parties have?

Would you believe me if I told you that much of what is seen as anger is just the natural energy of growth that has been restrained by circumstances, compressed like a spring until it rebounds irresistibly?

When we read in the news how Black people have this preference and that unfair advantage one day, and how white studies is just an effort to make white people feel guilty and we should just concentrate on what we have in common, can you understand how hypocritical that sounds? And when the DLC says they must concentrate on the needs and desires of white people or all is lost, what impact do you think that has? Because most Black people have the same damn fifth grade reading skills that most white people have, and most of us get the same news white people do. Just sit around a Black barber shop for a day, or play chess in the park with a brother that just got out of jail, you'll see (but that chess game will cost you ten bucks…).

And if a Black person tells you that democracy in this country means accepting that 13 men playing against 65-70 men is a level playing field, how are you going to argue against his point?

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/9/2003 08:35:46 PM |

Rumsfeld's people are just dangerousI

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 9, 2003 - 12:01pm.
on Old Site Archive

Rumsfeld's people are just dangerous

I was gathering things to write the post about Democratic problems in inspiring young Black folks to get involved in the political process. I ran across this, which is just…well, read it.

Meetings With Iran-Contra Arms Dealer Confirmed

By Bradley Graham and Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, August 9, 2003; Page A01

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld acknowledged yesterday that Pentagon officials met secretly with a discredited expatriate Iranian arms merchant who figured prominently in the Iran-contra scandal of the mid-1980s, characterizing the contact as an unexceptional effort to gain possibly useful information.

While Rumsfeld said that the contact occurred more than a year ago and that nothing came of it, his aides scrambled during the day to piece together more details amid other reports that Rumsfeld's account may have been incomplete.

Last night, a senior defense official disclosed that another meeting with the Iranian arms dealer, Manucher Ghorbanifar, occurred in June in Paris. The official said that, while the first contact, in late 2001, had been formally sanctioned by the U.S. government in response to an Iranian government offer to provide information relevant to the war on terrorism, the second one resulted from "an unplanned, unscheduled encounter."

A senior administration official said, however, that Pentagon staff members held one or two other meetings with Ghorbanifar last year in Italy. The sessions so troubled Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, the official said, that he complained to Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national security adviser.

Powell maintained that the Pentagon activities were unauthorized and undermined U.S. policy toward Iran by taking place outside the terms defined by Bush and his top advisers. The White House instructed the Pentagon to halt meetings that do not conform to policy decisions, said the official, who requested anonymity.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/9/2003 05:01:48 PM |

No, she did not

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 9, 2003 - 10:44am.
on Race and Identity

bc at thoughts on the eve of the apocalypse pointed out what may be the most shameful statement Ms. Rice, a survivor of the Birmingham church bombing, could have made.

Rice Touts Democratic Hopes for Iraq
National Security Adviser Likens Iraq Path to Civil Rights Struggle

By Scott Lindlaw
Associated Press
Thursday, August 7, 2003; 1:54 PM

National security adviser Condoleezza Rice likened Iraq's halting path toward self-government to black Americans' struggle for civil rights in the 1960s, imploring black journalists Thursday to reject arguments that some people are incapable of democracy.

"We've heard that argument before, and we more than any should be ready to reject it," Rice told about 1,200 people at the National Association of Black Journalists.

"The view was wrong in 1963 in Birmingham, and it is wrong in 2003 in Baghdad and in the rest of the Middle East," she said.

"We should not let our voices waver in speaking out for people seeking freedom and never, never indulge in the condescending voices who say that some people in Africa or the Middle East are just not interested in freedom -- culturally just not ready for freedom," she said.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/9/2003 03:44:06 PM |

Movable TypeMT is a pretty

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 9, 2003 - 5:25am.
on Old Site Archive

Movable Type

MT is a pretty cool toy, as long as you don't have to futz around in the code. Significant customization of appearance can be done if you know CSS. There's some minimal additional functionality I want, and I'm hoping as long as I can follow directions with a text editor I won't have to get too Perl-ish.

I know, but last I looked Perl was like C used to be… people do things is weird-ass ways, showing out to show off, and it's just not necessary. It's the culture around the language, and that has influenced the language itself.

Oh, well. Maybe when I'm done with this I'll peek under the MT hood, see what's kickin'.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/9/2003 10:25:49 AM |

Some things just cry out for a series of posts

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 9, 2003 - 5:10am.
on Race and Identity

The Political metadimensions and Carrot and stick posts were connected. Later today I'll be writing another connected post, on why young Black folks don't connect with the DNC's efforts to engage them. I'm not talking about the investment banker types, I'm talking about ya boys on da block.

In the meantime, here's a couple few interesting reads on voting. Do NOT expect a bunch of P6 opinion clones (like you ever seen one…).

blunted on reality: Risking a Democratic/Black Dichotomy?
The S-Train Canvass: The Libertarian Left???
Dead Ends: In discussing black passivism

Vision Circle: DLC and the Black Vote
Poll Finds Democrats Lack Crucial Support to Beat Bush
Party Must Strongly Reposition Itself to Regain White Male Voters' Support, DLC Advised

Cobb: Go with the party sometimes
The Volokh Conspiracy: Why I'm a party line voter
The Volokh Conspiracy: A strategic departure from strategic party-line voting

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/9/2003 10:10:31 AM |

Manual Trackback

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 9, 2003 - 1:32am.
on Race and Identity

Jason of Negro Please writes an open letter (on a blog with a bangin' template).

Dear White People Who Invite Me To Things,

I appreciate the invite. You fine folks are throwing nice parties with good food, good spirits with people in good spirits having more than your fair share of good laughs. I have a grand ol' time. Really, I do. I'm not complaining at all. I still plan on attending all your events. I just have a question:

Am I the only person of color you know?

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/9/2003 06:32:30 AM |

This is going to take

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 8, 2003 - 1:03pm.
on Old Site Archive

This is going to take a while

So I get this STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL message:

Status: U
Return-Path:
Received: from ok61133.com ([192.116.107.92])
by killdeer (EarthLink SMTP Server) with SMTP id 19L924dW3NZFlr0
for ; Fri, 8 Aug 2003 08:19:55 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Barrister Bassey Owo."
Reply-To: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Date: Fri, 8 Aug 2003 16:16:58 +0200
Subject: STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2919.6900 DM
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Message-Id: <200308080819.19L924dW3NZFlr0@killdeer>
X-PMFLAGS: 34078848 0 1 P694A0.CNM

DEAR SIR=2C

WE WOULD LIKE TO DEVELOP BUSINESS RELATIONS WITH YOU
BY ESTABLISHING A TRUST AGREEMENT WHEREBY YOU SHALL
HOLD=2C MANAGE INVEST AND DISTRIBUTE ALL ASSESTS
RECEIVED FROM US IN TRUST AND THE PROCEEDS THEREFROM=2C
UNDER THE TERMS OF THE TRUST AGREEMENT=2E

I AM AN ATTORNEY & CONSULTANT TO AN INFLUENTIAL
POLITICIAN=2C CURRENTLY A FEDERAL MINISTER IN THE
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA WHO HAS BEEN ABLE TO USE
HIS DIPLOMATIC STATUS TO MOVE THE SUM OF
US$60MILLION OVERSEAS =28NAME OF COUNTRY WITH HELD UNTIL
YOU ARE READY TO DO BUSINESS=29 AND PRESENTLY
DEPOSITED IN A PRIVATE SECURITY COMPANY FOR SAFE
KEEPING=2E THESE BOXES OF MONEY WERE AIRFEIGHTED AS
ARTIFACTS AND PHOTOGRAPHIC MATERIALS=2E
MY CLIENT=2C BECAUSE OF HIS PRESENT STATUS IN GOVERNMENT
CANNOT BE PHYSICALLY INVOLVE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF THE
MONEY=2C HENCE HE DO THIS BY WAY OF PROXY AND FIDUCIARY
AGENT IN ORDER TO AVOID ANY PROBE BY THE PRESENT
DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA=2E

I AM REQUESTING YOUR ASSISTANCE AS MY COLLEAGUE AND
LEARNED FRIEND TO HELP SECURE INVESTMENT OUTLETS
WHEREBY THIS FUNDS ARE INVESTED IN GOVERNMENT TREASURY
BILLS AND BONDS AND IN SECURE FIRST MORTGAGES
SUPPORTED BY YOUR COUNTRIES REAL ESTATE AND OTHER
ATTRACTIVE INVESTMENT PROGRAMS AVAILABLE=2E
MANAGE THE COMPLETE PROCESS & ESCORT OUR FIDUCIARY
AGENT THROUGH THE VARIOUS PROCEDURES=2E

IF THE ABOVE IS WORKABLE FOR YOU & YOUR ASSOCIATE=2C I
WOULD BE GLAD TO FORWARD OUR STANDARD DISCRETIONARY
ASSET MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT FOR YOU TO LOOK AND MAKE
ANY NECESSARY AMENDMENT=2E IF ANY=2C THIS AGREEMENT WE
HOPE WILL HELP TO ASSURE THE SAFETY OF THE FUNDS AND
CONSOLIDATE THE RELATIONSHIP=2EPRIOR TO HANDING OVER THE
FUNDS TO YOU & YOUR ASSOCIATES=2C WE HOPE TO ARRANGE FOR
A PRELIMINARY MEETING WITH YOU ON A NEUTRAL GROUND
WHERE THE ORIGINAL OF THE AGREEMENT WILL BE SIGNED BY
YOU & OUR FIDUCIARY AGENT=2F MYSELF=2E

TO ENSURE THE SUCCESS OF THIS TRANSACTION AND
GUARANTEE THIS UNIQUE RELATIONSHIP=2C KINDLY TREAT
AS CONFIDENTIALITY=2E SEND YOUR PRIVATE TELEPHONE AND FAX
NUMBERS TO ENABLE US TALK ON ONE ON ONE BASIS=2EI
AWAIT YOUR URGENT RESPONSE=2CTHANKS AND STAY BLESSED=2E

BEST REGARDS=2E

BARR=2E BASSEY OWO=2E

"COLLEAGUE AND LEARNED FRIEND," forsooth. Ah, what to do...

First, check whois.net to find the abuse coordinator's address for the Reply-To address in the header, [email protected]. Let lawyer.com know they've got a scammer using their address by forwarding the full message, with headers intact. This way they can trace it back via the Message ID fields and take whatever action they deem appropriate. Ignore the From address, which is based in Honk Kong, since that's as good as free text.

However, the SMTP servers assign IP addresses in the header. So though the Received: domain name can be (and is) spoofed, the IP can be trusted. In this case, (per ARIN) the address range has been assigned to the RIPE NCC region. And I hop on over to their whois database and find:

inetnum: 192.116.105.0 - 192.116.107.255
netname: GILAT-SATCOM-BLOCK-6-33-36
descr: SKY2Net ltd
country: GB
admin-c: AH935-RIPE
tech-c: AH935-RIPE
status: ASSIGNED PA
mnt-by: AS3339-MNT
mnt-lower: AS3339-MNT
changed: [email protected] 20030604
source: RIPE

route: 192.116.64.0/18
descr: ATT-ISRAEL-BLOCK4
origin: AS3339
mnt-by: AS3339-MNT
changed: [email protected] 19991212
source: RIPE

person: Amit Hoomash
address: Gilat Satcom
address: 1651 Old Meadow Rd.
address: Mclean,VA 22102 USA
phone: +972 3 9255000
fax-no: +972 3 9255005
e-mail: [email protected]
nic-hdl: AH935-RIPE
mnt-by: AS3339-MNT
changed: [email protected] 20020410
source: RIPE

So my COLLEAGUE is in Mclean, VA, using an IP address range belonging to ATT Israel, and (it would seem) specifically assigned to Gilat Satcom:

Gilat Satcom Ltd. is a global communication service provider. Founded in 1992, Gilat Satcom has been providing satellite-based communication services including private networks communication services in Israel, international communication services and Internet access services to companies and organizations world-wide, based on satellite technologies or other technologies. Gilat Satcom is wholly owned by Gilat Satcom Systems Ltd.
a public company traded on Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

Even the contact phone numbers are in the range for Gilat Satcom.

Not everyone is so easily played, you little shit.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/8/2003 06:03:04 PM |

Carrot and stick

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 8, 2003 - 9:29am.
on Race and Identity

This very interesting article presents a problem that I see little to no discussion of. And it's not the problem you're thinking about.

Younger Blacks Tell Democrats to Take Notice
By LYNETTE CLEMETSON

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The debate had become a familiar one for LaShannon Spencer. As director of political affairs for the Democratic Party of Arkansas, Ms. Spencer, 30, is charged with taking the pulse of voters and keeping them connected to the party.

But at Cajun's Wharf, a restaurant and bar on the banks of the Arkansas River that is popular with young professionals, Ms. Spencer's political pitch was met with skepticism.

"Democrats just assume my political affiliation, based on my ZIP code or voting precinct," said Khayyam Eddings, a 31-year-old labor lawyer, referring to his predominantly black neighborhood. He was one of three African-American men engaged with Ms. Spencer in an animated discussion. "I don't cast my ballot based on learned behavior."

Admitting "the" Latino community doesn't exist

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 8, 2003 - 6:39am.
on Race and Identity
New York City Hispanics Hold Bleaker Views, Poll Finds
By MIREYA NAVARRO and MARJORIE CONNELLY

Hispanics in New York City are unhappier with their government and more pessimistic about the economy than Hispanics in the nation as a whole, the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll has found. In many ways, the poll shows, they hold opinions that are closer to those of their fellow New Yorkers than to those of Hispanics in the rest of the country.

The differences are more pronounced among the city's largest Hispanic subgroup, Puerto Ricans, who are more likely to have been born in the 50 states, or to have lived there longer, than Hispanics from other countries. When their responses are removed from the poll results, the responses of the Dominicans, Mexicans and Ecuadoreans who make up most of the rest of New York's polyglot Hispanic population are often more in line with the responses by Hispanics elsewhere, who are predominantly of Mexican descent.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/8/2003 11:39:39 AM |

Sad to say, but this is reasonable

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 8, 2003 - 6:22am.
on Africa
Liberia challenges warrant for president

THE HAGUE - Liberia has asked the United Nations International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, to either cancel or withdraw the indictment and arrest warrant issued by Sierra Leone's war crimes court against Liberian president Charles Taylor, ICJ documents published yesterday show.

"Liberia contends that the arrest warrant of Charles Taylor violates customary international law and impugns the honour and reputation of the presidency and its sovereignty," according to an ICJ statement.

The UN-backed Special Court in Sierra Leone charged Taylor in June with atrocities committed during Sierra Leone's 11-year civil war and issued an international arrest warrant against him.

Liberia has asked the ICJ, the highest judiciary organ of the United Nations set up to deal with disputes between states, to declare that the indictment of Taylor failed to respect the immunity from persecution that Taylor enjoys under international law as a head of state.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/8/2003 11:22:08 AM |

That's fair

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 8, 2003 - 3:48am.
on Race and Identity
Civil rights lawyer quits NAACP in rift over judge pick
By Charles Hurt
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

A prominent black civil rights lawyer from California quit the NAACP this week after a disagreement with the group over his support of one of President Bush's judicial nominees.

After Leo Terrell appeared at a news conference last week in support of a nominee being blocked by Democrats, two officials of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People telephoned him and tried "bullying" him over his position, he said.

"They were trying to make me goose-step with them," said Mr. Terrell, who joined the NAACP 13 years ago and has done free legal work for the group. "I felt embarrassed to call myself a member of the NAACP. I was proud to quit."

But Hilary O. Shelton, director of the NAACP's Washington office, said he called Mr. Terrell simply to advise him against billing himself as an "NAACP lawyer."

"He's not an NAACP lawyer, not even a former NAACP lawyer," Mr. Shelton said. "He's done volunteer work for us, which we appreciate.

"But when he takes a position that is diametrically opposite from our position, he's not speaking for us," he said.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/8/2003 08:48:21 AM |

Editorial runAn Important Human Rights

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 8, 2003 - 2:22am.
on Old Site Archive

Editorial run

An Important Human Rights Tool
Despite pressure from the Bush administration, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals must stand by our commitment to worldwide human rights and allow the case involving Myanmar villagers now before it to go forward.

Salt of the Earth
By PAUL KRUGMAN
On environmental issues from ozone to methyl bromide, America's ruling party is pursuing a strategy of denial and deception.

Send In the Marines
By KENNETH L. CAIN
Counting on regional forces to bring peace to Liberia without American participation is a mistake likely to have tragic consequences.
[p6: this one has some seriously ugly stuff in it]

Cartoons
Pat Oliphant on palace intrigues.
Drew Sheneman on uneven development in bodybuilders.
David Horsey on the repercussions of left coast politics.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/8/2003 07:22:59 AM |

The White Bronco effect

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 8, 2003 - 1:57am.
on Race and Identity

re: a certain basketball player.

If he's guilty, burn him. But GHOD, wait until you know he's guilty, okay?

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/8/2003 06:57:21 AM |

Fucking spare meRegime ordered chemical

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 8, 2003 - 1:54am.
on Old Site Archive

Fucking spare me

Regime ordered chemical attack, investigator says
(By Bryan Bender, Globe Correspondent)
WASHINGTON -- A top Bush administration weapons investigator told Congress in closed testimony last week that he has uncovered solid information from interviews, documents, and physical evidence that Iraqi military forces were ordered to attack US troops with chemical weapons, but did not have the time or capability to follow through, according to senior defense and intelligence officials.

"[D]id not have the time or capability to follow through" means they didn't have the weapons, asshole.

Don't believe anything these shitheads say unless they present proof, okay?

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/8/2003 06:54:46 AM |

Ohhhhh&hellip; It all makes sense

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 8, 2003 - 1:49am.
on Old Site Archive

Ohhhhh… It all makes sense now

It All Depends on What You Mean by 'Have'
By STEVE MARTIN

So if you're asking me did Iraq have weapons of mass destruction, I'm saying, well, it all depends on what you mean by "have."

See, I can "have" something without actually having it. I can "have" a cold, but I don't own the cold, nor do I harbor it. Really, when you think about it, the cold has me, or even more precisely, the cold has passed through me. Plus, the word "have" has the complicated letter "v" in it. It seems that so many words with the letter "v" are words that are difficult to use and spell. Like "verisimilitude." And "envelope."

Therefore, when you ask me, "Did Iraq have weapons of mass destruction," I frankly don't know what you're talking about. Do you mean currently? Then why did you say "did?" Think about "did." What the heck does that mean? Say it a few times out loud. Sounds silly. I'm beginning to think it's just the media's effort to use a fancy palindrome, rather than ask a pertinent question.

And how do I know you're not saying "halve?" "Did Iraq halve weapons of mass destruction?" How should I know? What difference does it make? That's a stupid question.

Let me try and clear it up for you. I think what you were trying to say was, "At any time, did anyone in Iraq think about, wish for, dream of, or search the Internet for weapons of mass destruction?"

Heavens, yes!

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/8/2003 06:49:18 AM |

Duh!Ya think?Rivals Say Halliburton Dominates

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 8, 2003 - 1:45am.
on Old Site Archive

Duh!

Ya think?

Rivals Say Halliburton Dominates Iraq Oil Work
By NEELA BANERJEE

he Bechtel Group, one of the world's biggest engineering and construction companies, has dropped out of the running for a contract to rebuild the Iraqi oil industry, as other competitors have begun to conclude that the bidding process favors the one company already working in Iraq, Halliburton.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/8/2003 06:45:11 AM |

Every scientist in the country

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 8, 2003 - 1:42am.
on Old Site Archive

Every scientist in the country should sign onto this report

Of course if they did they could kiss their federal funding goodbye.

Bush Misuses Science Data, Report Says
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 — The Bush administration persistently manipulates scientific data to serve its ideology and protect the interests of its political supporters, a report by the minority staff of the House Committee on Government Reform says.

The 40-page report, which was prepared for Representative Henry A. Waxman, the committee's ranking Democrat, accused the administration of compromising the scientific integrity of federal institutions that monitor food and medicine, conduct health research, control disease and protect the environment.

On many topics, including global warming and sex education, the administration "has manipulated the scientific process and distorted or suppressed scientific findings," the report said.

"The administration's political interference with science has led to misleading statements by the president, inaccurate responses to Congress, altered Web sites, suppressed agency reports, erroneous international communications and the gagging of scientists," the report added.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/8/2003 06:42:29 AM |

Judicial freedom goes the way

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 8, 2003 - 1:38am.
on Old Site Archive

Judicial freedom goes the way of citizen's freedom

This will have several chilling effects. Drug law is stupid because drug abuse is a health problem more than a legal one. Many states are finding the current budget crisis, also brought on by stupid federal policy, is making them look at drug treatment more favorably…it's much cheaper to treat an user than to imprison one. This policy will likely scare most judges into jailing them, thereby keeping those unnecessary expenditures in state budgets.

Justice Dept. to Monitor Judges for Sentences Shorter Than Guidelines Suggest
By ERIC LICHTBLAU

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 — The Justice Department told a federal court administrator today that it would begin compiling data on judges who give lighter sentences than federal guidelines prescribe, a move that critics see as an effort to limit judicial independence by creating a "blacklist" of judges.

The new policy will require prosecutors to notify Justice Department officials in Washington whenever a federal judge issues a sentence that falls below sentencing guidelines. The notification will set in motion a review of whether an appeal of the judge's sentence should be filed.

"The public in general and crime victims in particular rightly expect that the penalties established by law for specific crimes will be sought and imposed by those who serve in the criminal justice system," Attorney General John Ashcroft wrote in a July 28 memorandum to federal prosecutors outlining the protocol.

The policy, first reported on Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal, is part of a bill signed into law by President Bush in April that seeks to make it tougher for federal judges to depart from sentencing guidelines.

The Justice Department, in a letter today to the head of the administrative office of the United States Courts, said it developed the policy as part of the new law's requirements rather than accept a more "onerous" option allowed by Congress. That option would have required the Justice Department to go to Congress with a detailed report each time a judge broke from the sentencing guidelines.

This whole Ashcroft thing gives me the creeps more and more each day. Someone, I forget who, recently said that we need to keep some perspective about him, because on his worst day he's not the Hitler people are claiming.

Well, Hitler wasn't Hitler his first year or so in office.

Every Bush appointee, including Bush himself (yes, he's a Bush appointee too), claimed centrist intent and demonstrated more and more extremist behavior as time passed. I have no reason to expect Ashcroft to check his own movement in the same direction.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/8/2003 06:38:47 AM |

UpdateMy father's problem has been

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 8, 2003 - 12:21am.
on Old Site Archive

Update

My father's problem has been identified. He developed an infection where the shunt they connect him to the dialysis unit was inserted. The shunt has been removed (it was apparently overdue anyway), infection is being treated, his temperature is normal. He'll still be hospitalized a few more days, but it looks like the crisis has passed.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/8/2003 05:21:55 AM |

You heard it here firstAl

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 7, 2003 - 8:35pm.
on Old Site Archive

You heard it here first

Al Gore will continue his punditry. None of the nine candidates will secure enough support to win the Democratic nomination. Al Gore will be drafted, and Gen. Clark will be drafted as his running mate. Most of the nine will say they only ran because Gore didn't and the rest will endorse him heartily.

If they win they'll offer Powell the Secretary of State position again. Or maybe Rummy's spot since by they the two departments will have functionally merged.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/8/2003 01:35:08 AM |

Why should I believe him

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 7, 2003 - 8:10pm.
on Old Site Archive

Why should I believe him THIS time?

U.S. Won't Resume Nuclear Tests for Now
Secretary of State Colin Powell Says There's No Need for U.S. to Resume Nuclear Testing at the Moment

WASHINGTON Aug. 7 - Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday a resumption of U.S. nuclear testing could not be ruled out forever but there was no need to test now.

"The president has no intention of testing nuclear weapons," Powell said at a news conference. "We have no need to."

While the United States and other nuclear powers have a responsibility to keep their nuclear weapons stockpiles safe and reliable, "we see no need to test in order to do that at the moment," Powell said.

"We can't rule it out forever," he said, but "we have no plans to test" and the topic is not likely to be discussed by President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin at their meeting next month at Camp David in Maryland.

"No need to test." We hae proof there was no need to invade Iraq.

I remember when Bush kept declaring he had no invasion plans on his desk. It was techincally true…they were in his top desk drawer.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/8/2003 01:10:24 AM |

Meet my friend devorah majorShe's

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 7, 2003 - 7:48pm.
on Old Site Archive

Meet my friend devorah major

She's the second one listed. Although she doesn't capitalize her name.

I gave her those really cool earrings, btw.

10 Smartest People in the Bay Area
The brightest brains on the globe walk among us.
By Scott DeVaney and Summer Burkes

Using a complex algorithm involving one’s IQ, the results from various logic tests and the weight of the sun divided by the total number of Canadians named Steve, we have calculated the definitive list of the 10 smartest people in the entire Bay Area. Do not bother refuting the almighty list. Your efforts will be in vain.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/8/2003 12:48:08 AM |

From Johannesburg or Brooklyn?

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 7, 2003 - 4:07pm.
on Africa
Economic Democracy Breeds Non-Racialism
Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg)
OPINION
August 7, 2003
By Herman Wasserman

…While we can refute the scientific concept of "race" as much as we like, the material experience of racism in South Africa is still everywhere to be seen. While we can deny the concept of race as a myth, the discrimination on the basis of that myth in the apartheid system wrought effects that are undeniably still lived today. In a society structured along these lines, it is not surprising to find that race is still a powerful signifier.

This is why, as recently pointed out by political scientist Amanda Gouws and quoted by Mbeki, the concept of reconciliation between races would have to take place not only on attitudinal, but on grassroots level as well.

Of course we want to get away from defining ourselves in terms of the categories set by apartheid. Of course we want, someday, to be a non-racial society in which identity is based on other determinants than skin colour and essentialist notions of racial origin.

In some ways this is already happening. In the embryonic cross-cultural forays in art forms like kwaito, hip-hop, the emergence of post-apartheid literature and theatre and homegrown soapies, new forms of identity are being experimented with. But identity and cultural transformation cannot be divorced from material factors and historical legacies. Material factors mitigate against new identities coming into being, since cross-cultural movement is hampered by the structural divisions in South African society. Geographically, socially, culturally, South Africa is still divided along racial lines. Race might not be the overriding issue in post-1994 South Africa, since formal apartheid legislation has been scrapped. However, race is important insofar as it points to the extent to which material inequalities still remain in our society, and how that precludes greater social and cultural changes from taking place.

Census 2001 has shown us that race and class still coincide in South African society, almost 10 years after the formal end of apartheid. It is important that "playing the race card" should not be a way of escaping criticism or denying interlocutors a position from where to constructively engage in a dialogue to change things for the better. But race as a determinant in South African society cannot be wished away. While it should inform the approach to redressing material inequalities, this should not be restricted to changing faces in boardrooms - it should also take the form of a restructuring on ground level, so that the legacies of the past may someday be erased. Only by changing material circumstances in the country will we be able to change the ways we experience each other and define ourselves as South Africans. Only then will we be able to shape new identities without being encumbered by the ghosts of the past.

It is noble but foolish to expect race to fade in significance only ten years after the official end of apartheid in South Africa. It's as thoroughly entwined in the culture, as fundamental a cornerstone of the economy, as it ever was in the USofA. We're still struggling with it almost 40 years after the official end of Jim Crow.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/7/2003 09:07:41 PM |

The issue isn't settled yet

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 7, 2003 - 3:44pm.
on Race and Identity
Black history museum site hinges on debate over civil rights symbolism

By JEFFREY McMURRAY

WASHINGTON (AP) -- One dramatic historical moment is fueling arguments for and against a black history and culture museum on the National Mall: the 1963 March on Washington.

For one-time civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis, a museum telling the story of his people from slavery to the present would memorialize the moment when hundreds of thousands of protesters filled the open green space between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial.

To critics, cluttering that space with another building would detract from it original purpose of openness and a place for people to air their grievances en masse -- no better dramatized than by the 1963 march.

"Civil rights really have made the Mall an embodiment of the Constitution by showing the constitutional guarantees of freedom were not extended to the black community," said Judy Feldman, president of the National Coalition to Save Our Mall. "The fact we have a Mall where people can go and make their case means it's filling a function. That function is not by filling it with buildings, it's by filling it with people."

Lewis, D-Ga., agrees the Mall shouldn't be cluttered. But if anything deserves to be situated on some of Washington's most-coveted real estate, he says it's this project.

"The Mall represents the front door to the symbol of our democracy," said Lewis, who was beaten during the 1965 "Bloody Sunday" march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. "An African-American Museum shouldn't be up to the side or in the back. It should be as close to the other museums as possible."

Other Smithsonian museums currently open on the Mall are the Art and Industries Building, the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Gallery, National Air and Space Museum, National Museum of African Art, National Museum of American History and National Museum of Natural History.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/7/2003 08:44:19 PM |

Okay, THIS is news

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 7, 2003 - 3:39pm.
on Africa

I honestly don't remember this EVER having been done for refugees from an African nation.

Immigration status extended for Liberians

WASHINGTON (AP) — As peacekeeping forces moved into Liberia's capital Thursday, the Bush administration announced it will extend the temporary immigration status for thousands of people who have fled that war-ravaged country.
In a Federal Register notice Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security said the temporary protected status for Liberians has been extended until October 1, 2004.

The 12-month extension is warranted, according to DHS, "due to ongoing armed conflict within Liberia that would pose a serious threat to the personal safety of returning nationals of Liberia."

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/7/2003 08:39:26 PM |

First steps, at last

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 7, 2003 - 3:37pm.
on Africa
Taylor picks VP as his successor in Liberia

MONROVIA, Liberia — President Charles Taylor announced his successor Thursday, a step toward his much-anticipated resignation and ending two months of bloody warfare in Monrovia that has killed at least 1,000 people.

In a letter to Congress, Taylor said he would hand power to his vice-president, Moses Blah. Legislators approved the decision, paving the way for Taylor's stepping down Monday, as promised.

Meanwhile, West African peacekeeping forces drove into the rebel-besieged and famished capital to deafening cheers from the city's people.

…Taylor has hedged on when he would take up an offer of asylum in Nigeria - setting new conditions for his departure in recent days. His government has said he would leave only after enough foreign peacekeepers are on the ground and if a war crimes indictment against him is dropped.

Nigerian officials told The Associated Press that the Liberian leader had indicated he hoped to leave around Aug. 16 or 17. But South African President Thabo Mbeki said Taylor assured him he would leave within 24 hours of handing over power Monday.

Jacques Paul Klein, the top UN envoy for Liberia, urged Taylor to leave before he is arrested. A UN-backed court has indicted Taylor on war crimes charges for allegedly supporting rebels during a brutal decade-long war in neighbouring Sierra Leone.

"The warrant never goes away, and the court will be there for a number of years," he advised Taylor. "So go while the getting is good."

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/7/2003 08:37:00 PM |

Expanding the coalition of the <strike>billing</strike>willing

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 7, 2003 - 3:32pm.
on Africa
Kenya to get most of US funds for war on terrorism
By EDMUND KWENA
In Washington DC
Kenya is to receive the largest share of the $100 million (about Sh7.4 billion) set aside for the fight against terrorism in East Africa.

US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a group of African journalists visiting the country that Kenya would use the funds to secure the border with Somalia, largely suspected to be the main route for terrorists entering Kenya and the source of small arms used by criminals.

"We are very concerned with the continued situation of Somalia as a failed state because terrorists are entering the country and getting refuge there and using the country as a springboard for their attacks," Mr Boucher said.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/7/2003 08:32:29 PM |

Exactly what has been put

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 7, 2003 - 3:10pm.
on Old Site Archive

Exactly what has been put on hold

Up until this point P6 has been a series of experiments. By now I think I've gotten the rhythm of what I want to do. I started out with the intention of clearly representing a Black partisan position. In order to do this I've found I must deal in both civil rights and human rights. I have to touch on a lot of things that are important to Black Americans but only indirectly affect our situation in the USofA…raising consciousness of issues native to Africa is a prime example of this. I need to promote a progressive political viewpoint, making it rational as possible even to those who don't agree with it. And I have to try to bring attention to those aspects of the neocon agenda that I can.

There's been a pattern to my posts by which I try to accomplish these goals. I do news clippings, making an honest attempt to honor fair use rules and still give an honest representation of the content of any article. I've decided not to link to the stories that EVERYone will be presenting unless

  1. It's so large that it CAN'T be ignored
  2. My perspective is significantly different from the prevailing perspective
I scan a significant portion of my blogroll daily and pass along links to
  1. Major stories I personally skip
  2. Major stories I would have missed entirely
  3. Opinion pieces that impress me
I try to get in at least one fairly major original piece of my own per day. This is my content inclusion pattern; the content style is just Earl…I think surprises like Black English Month make folks curious enough to come back. Plus I need to have some fun with this once in a while.

Up until now my marketing efforts have been experimental too. Considering how little effort I've put into it I've been fairly successful, I think.

It appears my next move will be to Moveable Type. My current setup has limitations due to fate and time's conspiracy to make me, for the second time in my life, a Broke-Ass-Negro. John Constantine has offered to hold that conspiracy in abeyance until I can cancel its effects entirely. So I'll be fooling around, learning what can be done in short order, and in the near future Prometheus 6 will be moving to Moveable Type and a new address. I'll gain an RSS feed and trackbacks, probably categories and a couple of random coolnesses like blogroll categories and recent comments added to the sidebar.

Perl. ugh

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/7/2003 08:10:55 PM |

My father has just been

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 7, 2003 - 6:44am.
on Old Site Archive

My father has just been hospitalized. I knew my hands would be full today.

Everything is on hold.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/7/2003 11:44:12 AM |

Last entry of the nightDemosthenes

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 6, 2003 - 5:45pm.
on Old Site Archive

Last entry of the night

Demosthenes has a vision that I think is dead on:

I'm starting to have a vision of what 2004 is going to look like. And it looks like chaos. Open warfare: between political partisans, between ideologies, between movements; between groups that believe that there is literally nothing more important than winning the election in November.

…Appeals to bi-partisan consensus will likely be offered by the Republicans, who will have both 2002 and Grover Norquist's "Bi-partisanship is date rape" line thrown back in their faces. The media will focus less on the rhetoric, and more on the war. Civility is out the window; Republican calls for it will likely be quickly rebutted as well by the "Bourgeous riot" of 2000, where the Republicans proved that they have little taste for civility where it doesn't benefit them. Dirty tricks are out of bound only insofar as they might be found out.

…So we get a war. The Republican base against the Democrat base. The Wurlitzer against Dean's army. (I would not be overly surprised if we hear that term first being used in the mainstream media before the year is out.) The immovable object against the irresistable force, with no concept of civility, fairness, or restraint accepted, let alone followed. All of this, too, against a backdrop of an American populace that is newly re-engaged with politics, which understands how important this is, and which will likely be as evenly divided as it was in the past. I have a vision of the most brutal election campaign that the Republic has ever seen, and I don't think I like it, and even less like that it may be necessary.

And that's not even getting into what the anti-globo types will do. Or, God forbid, Al Qaeda.

I think he's right because we've already seen calls for Democrats to stop pretending the Conservative extremists are ever going to engage in honorable tactics. I know, because when I see them I link to them and cheer them on.

But you know, Demosthenes having laid it out like that makes me think. It does NOT give me pause. But it makes me think about the aftermath of all this. It could be so ugly that the fact that we are justified in reacting as though it's a knife fight may not be much consolation.

Progressives must stand for progressive principles. Progressives can no longer simply accept the lies and distortions. But progressives must focus their anger on those that invoked it. We can't be ripping up Republicans in general, the citizens on the ground. We can go after their leaders and operatives. But somewhere an honest discussion about just what we need and want the government to provide, what it costs and how it can be paid for must be had, and that's the last thing these extremists want. A narrative must be created that shows the interests of the average human that votes Republican is not being well served by the Republican party. And that narrative, which will simply be the truth, must get play somehow, be it in big media or a whisper campaign initiated on the net.

The nation needs a big dose of reality, and then it needs to set some priorities. It may be too late to get it all in before the next Presidential election. But maybe we can get in enough to make people realize we need to finish the discussion. And if we do, the current regime is doomed.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/6/2003 10:45:57 PM |

Political metadimensions

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 6, 2003 - 1:40pm.
on Race and Identity

I actually think about the discussions I have here and at other sites. Recently I've had some particularly rich food for thought. I'll have a discussion with Zenpundit, a libertarian, which will be short because we tend to converge on some point that allows us to see each other's position as rational. I've mentioned that as a Black partisan I'll sometimes find myself coincidentally in common cause with anti-white forces…except of course it's not entirely coincidental because similar forces shaped each of our opinions. It's just that we give things different weights so that one of us sees it necessary to drive white people away from Black folks, another will see the need to drive Black folks away from white people, a third will see the need to draw Black folks together in common cause without regard to the movement of the surrounding culture while one more person is content within herself with the knowledge and identity she's accrued. There's the conservative Cobb, who on certain levels is far more revolutionary than I choose to be yet posts a list of Old School core values that I agreed with so strongly (yet not without exception!) I immediately elevated it to a post.

I find it oddly appropriate that, as I write this, it's raining yet because the cloud cover isn't total the sun outside my window is also strong and direct.

Some of you may be aware of The Political Compass, an online test that helps sort out political persuasions with a bit more subtlety than the simple left/right dichotomy we're accustomed to applying. Briefly, it adds an authoritarian/libertarian dimension to the single left/right dimension. It would be useful for you to take the test. Actually, it would also be useful for you to be familiar with Flatland but you pretty much have all that's needed to follow me just by understanding there's more than one measure of one's activist leanings.

The fact is, one's activism is a measure one would lay (stand?) at a right angle to the economic/social axis defined by The Political Compass. A person who absolutely resists changes to the status quo may rate as highly on the activist axis as the most Marxist revolutionary. There's probably not too many people who would agree with me about this, but consider this.

This image was lifted from the Political Compass site and modified a bit for size. It represents where various public figures would fall on their two dimensional mapping based on their public speech.

What I'd like you to do is eliminate the left/right axis in your mind. Just slide all the little dots left or right until they're directly on top of the vertical authoritarian/libertarian axis.

Isn't it interesting that Yassir Arifat and Ariel Sharon have something in common now? Someone to whom authoritarianism is the single important issue…and those people exist…would find both men near equally appealing or repellant. However, both are distinct from, say, Nelson Mandella. However, collapse the authoritarian/libertarian axis instead and Arafat and Sharon remain totally distinct. However Arafat now shares a position with The Dalai Lama.

Remember this. When you disregard or are unaware of one or another axis, men as disparate in position as Ariel Sharon and Yassir Arafat appear the same. When you switch or expand your reference, people who appeared to share a position become distinct.

I think among Black folks there's an axis that represents identification with the/a Black community/communities. The multiple slashes in that last sentance indicate I see an axis…well, a polarity actually…that represents the perception of whether there is a single or multiple communities of Black folks. This means there's a political mapping in the Black communities that is every bit as complex as the [authoritarian/libertarian]/[left/right] mapping we've previously discussed…a mapping that can appear as a single point to those who are unaware of or disregard it. And it's a framework that explains how a Cobb and I can declare ourselves to be on opposing ends of an economic spectrum yet be in such close agreement on so many issues. It's because when I go to his blog I'm not analyzing [authoritarian/libertarian]/[left/right] positioning. I'm analyzing [identity/non-identity]/[single community/multiple community] mappings in addition to other axises (which is why familiarity with Flatland is useful…we rapidly exceed the number of dimensions that are directly perceivable and hence visualizable) on which we generally agree.

Relativity of perception being what it is, the [authoritarian/libertarian]/[left/right] mapping can appear as a single point to some in the Black communities as well.

Understanding this is of major assistance in relating my positions to that of others. It also helps in negotiations. Seeing where, why and to what degree we agree or disagree helps me understand how to compromise if that is what is being sought…and how to respond if it isn't.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/6/2003 06:40:15 PM |

Line 'em up

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 6, 2003 - 10:08am.
on Race and Identity

This deserved a title.

Atrios, Paul Musgrave and Orcinus comment on a post at The Corner that feels we should keep the lynching of Black folks post-Civil War in perspective.

Since my great-grandfather was lynched and my grandfather had to watch so he could cut him down from the tree afterward, you'll understand my opinion of the position espoused by The Corner.

Thak you to the three bloggers who responded so well. Reading your posts prevented me from filling my blog with obscene and blasphemous invective.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/6/2003 03:08:57 PM |

Tomorrow's scheduleThere's pretty much no

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 6, 2003 - 7:53am.
on Old Site Archive

Tomorrow's schedule

There's pretty much no point in looking for updates here tomorrow. My mom's going for cataract surgery and I'm traveling with her, and it's dialysis day for my father. Hands are likely to be pretty full.

Then again, there have been other times I've said I wasn't posting much. Just don't get mad at me if it's for real this time.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/6/2003 12:53:26 PM |

Dog of Flanders and I

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 6, 2003 - 6:58am.
on Old Site Archive

Dog of Flanders and I have gone off on a tangent in the comments to Chords I. I had originally thought to copy and comment on his last statement in that thread, but that was because I am familiar with the whole of it. Looking at it through fresh eyes, I've decided it would be useful to raise the whole comment thread from the original point where it departed from the subject of the post it is attached to.

This isn't a post per se. It's more an extension of the comment thread, and an invitation for others to join in.

Dog of Flanders (DoF)

I'm always a bit mystified by the apparent idea on the left that money that isn't taxed is somehow "lost".

And I'm not speaking about charity here, but investments. The same money that when taxed goes to some social program, but with lower efficiency, because of administrative overhead and fraud, (and with the risk of creating perverse incentives) can be invested when not taxed with higher efficiency, creating jobs.

Prometheus 6 (P6)

Okay, the idea that untaxed money is "lost" is unfamiliar to me, even as a metaphor.

But you know, there's a HUGE difference between what CAN be done and what IS done. Maybe investment CAN create jobs but if you look at the market in the USofA you'll be hard pressed to find evidence of it.

Compare fraud in social programs to the obscene salaries non-productive CEOs receive.

Much of what you call administrative overhead is employment expense. Compare that to tax breaks that cost more than the payroll of the jobs the receiving corporation creates, Or better, compare it to the taxes generated by those jobs. Talk about your perverse incentives.

DoF

Well, the point of administrative overhead (and I was only talking in the context of social programs) is that those jobs do not create wealth.

All things being equal, people want cars, consumer goods, medicines, and the like.

It's pretty plain that it's better to have people producing these goods and services that they and others want, instead of having them sitting at home unemployed.

But the same goes for the civil servant who does not deliver a popular service but who's function is to cut down on fraud: He is not producing wealth, but (in the best case) part of some complicated mini-max equation to increase the efficiency of a social program. Without fraud-detection, the efficiency could be as low as 20%, so we add civil servants until we reach a maximum efficiency of 70%, after which point adding yet another civil servant will cost more than any extra fraud prevented, and the efficiency starts dropping again.

Yes, it's nice for those civils servants to have a job, instead of also being unemployed, but however you look at it, the cost of the social program must be payed by the remaining taxpayers working in the private sector.

P6

"Well, the point of administrative overhead (and I was only talking in the context of social programs) is that those jobs do not create wealth"

I'm also talking in terms of social programs. If corporate welfare isn't a social program, what is it? If it is a social program, it must therefore be subject to the same level and kinds of scrutiny you'd subject any other social program to. If it's not, then it's an unconstitutional confiscation and transfer of wealth and should be halted before even considering shutting down any program than benefits humans.

By the way, the Cato Intitute is of the latter opinion. See Cutting Corporate Welfare Could Fund a Bush Social Security Plan and The Cato Handbook for Congress. The latter states:

Corporate welfare programs are often purported to be pro-business. They are not. Such programs do nothing to promote a freer economy. They make it less free. Here are seven reasons why such policies are misguided and dangerous:

1. The federal government has a disappointing record of picking industrial winners and losers. The average delinquency rate for government loan programs (8 percent) is almost three times higher than that for commercial lenders (3 percent). The Small Business Administration delinquency rate reached over 20 percent in the 1980s, and the Farmers Home Administration delinquency rate has approached 50 percent.

2. Corporate welfare is a huge drain on the federal treasury. Every year $75 billion of taxpayer money is spent on programs that subsidize businesses. Meanwhile, politicians proclaim that we can't afford a tax cut. [p6: note this was directed to the 105th Congress. This means the amount has increased by now, and they got the tax cut(s) anyway]

3. Corporate welfare creates an uneven playing field. By giving selected businesses and industries special advantages, corporate subsidies put businesses and industries that are less politically well connected at a disadvantage.

4. Corporate welfare fosters an incestuous relationship between business and government. All too often, the firms and industries that contribute the most to political campaign coffers are the largest recipients of government handouts.

5. Corporate welfare programs are anti-consumer. For instance, the Commerce Department has estimated that the sugar subsidy program costs consumers several billion dollars a year in higher prices.

6. Corporate welfare is anti-capitalist. As Wall Street financier Theodore J. Forstmann has put it, corporate welfare has led to the creation in America of the ``statist businessman,'' who has been converted from a capitalist into a lobbyist.

7. Corporate welfare is unconstitutional. Corporate subsidy programs lie outside Congress's limited spending authority under the Constitution.



And I STILL don't know where you got the idea that liberals feel any money that isn't taxed is "lost". Nor have you convinced me that corporations actually will create the jobs they could create. I don't think they would, and I have their track record of unnecessary layoffs and exporting the remaining jobs to enhance profitability as support for my speculation. What do you have to support yours?

DoF

Well, I think a difference must be made between specific targeted subsidies, which most libertarians would view as "Market distortion", and don't like, and a general reduction of taxation.

I wouldn't want to put the latter under the header "Corporate Welfare", just because you're taxed less than the maximum you've ever been taxed before, but it is applicable for the first part, because corporations that aren't subsidized will eventually have to pay higher taxes to make up for it.

There is a discrepancy here that there's usually no complaint when corporate taxes are raised all across the board, but when they are lowered, some people on the left start to argue there should not be "free gifts", but advocate only rewarding those corporations that create new jobs.

None of us have a crystal ball, but there are law of averages here, and just as we can safely predict that when corporate taxes are raised, some corporations will stop to be profitable and end up bankrupt, the reverse holds that when lowering taxes previously unprofitable ventures will become profitable again.

Exporting jobs isn't something new. If it is cheaper to produce goods abroad and ship the finished product, consumers will vote with their wallets.

The "lost" part is an impression I get from left rhetoric. In part, it's the dogmatic "raising taxes good, lowering taxes bad" attitude, where in my opinion it makes more sense to have a tax regimen following the economic cycle.

Another pet peeve with lefty rhetoric is the narrow focus on only the demand side of the economy. There's this strange denial that more efficient corporations can produce either the same goods at lower cost, or better goods at the same price, so while people may have the same income in dollar terms, they are wealthier in purchasing power.

I'm going to quickly dismiss a couple of point because we're at the point where a single conversation becomes several overlapping conversations that will each obscure the others.

I haven't classed overall tax reduction as Corporate welfare. I've juxtaposed it against the social programs you've said are inefficient.

The discrepancy you mention doesn't exist either, or rather it is only apparent when you look at things overly specifically. The theme is, why reward inefficient corporations or punish efficient ones? Increased taxes are applied across the board, yes. But why should society reward corporations that don't provide pretty much the only benefit corporations can provide society?

There is no denial that more efficient corporations can do as you say. There is an observation that they have never done so, because the purpose of a corporation is to maximize the return on investments. It is counter to the entire purpose of corporate existance to do as you suggest. The purpose of the American government, on the other hand is to serve its citizens…health, welfare and the pursuit of happiness and all that.

I'm seriously not even going to address your impression of a "raising taxes good, lowering taxes bad" attitude.

What I want to do is ask if you feel it's more important for the government to serve people or corporations? This is a serious question. I get the sense that you'd like to see more corporate support under the assumption that American citizens across the board will ultimately benefit enough to make it worthwhile. If this is your position I take strong exception to it; the track record so far simply doesn't support it.

It's a good theory, but it has been applied in abstract…continually seeking to help corporations become more profitable without checking to see what the impact of those efforts have been on human beings. I'd like to see a little more context applied. No, a lot more.

LATER: Dog of Flanders expands on his position in his house.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/6/2003 11:58:04 AM |

The sound of silenceYou don't

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 6, 2003 - 4:54am.
on Old Site Archive

The sound of silence

You don't really need my witty headlines, do you?

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/6/2003 09:54:12 AM |

posted by Prometheus 6

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 6, 2003 - 4:52am.
on Old Site Archive

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/6/2003 09:52:43 AM |

posted by Prometheus 6

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 6, 2003 - 4:51am.
on Old Site Archive

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/6/2003 09:51:53 AM |

posted by Prometheus 6

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 6, 2003 - 4:49am.
on Old Site Archive

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/6/2003 09:49:11 AM |

Child credit not seen as

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 6, 2003 - 4:44am.
on Old Site Archive
Child credit not seen as boosting Bush votes

By Wayne Washington, Globe Staff, 8/6/2003

WALDORF, Md. -- Surnita Jefferson-Jones walked into a J.C. Penney's yesterday morning with four young children and the promise of four tax credits from President Bush -- part of Bush's plan to stimulate the economy by returning cash to taxpayers. She's looking forward to the money, but come November of next year, Jefferson-Jones isn't likely to repay Bush with her vote.

''I think it's a ploy to build people's confidence,'' Jefferson-Jones said of the child-credit checks.

For Bush, having the country get an economic boost from the child-credit checks coming out this week could be crucial, as Democratic opponents hammer away, decrying the millions in job losses and the slow growth they attribute to the president's policies. But Bush and his campaign clearly hope the tax credits do more than stimulate the economy -- they want them to become almost a personal expression of Bush's concern for families.

Just last week, Bush stood in the White House Rose Garden and smiled like a TV pitchman as he told Americans: ''The check is in the mail.''

But while few are willing to return them to sender, the checks don't appear to have shifted opinions about Bush or his policies, at least not in this area of suburban Maryland, where Penney's and other retailers in the local mall are cashing the child-credit checks for free.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/6/2003 09:44:28 AM |

The fruits of BushonomicsBy Robert

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 6, 2003 - 4:36am.
on Old Site Archive
The fruits of Bushonomics

By Robert Kuttner, 8/6/2003

GEORGE W. BUSH faces a race between the ill-advised economic policies sown in the first half of his term and the bitter fruit that those policies are starting to bear. If the sour effects of his economic policies are evident by mid-2004, he is in deep political trouble.

For now, at least, Bush can say that the economic news is mixed. The unemployment rate went up to 6.4 percent in May. It dropped slightly, to 6.2 percent, in June - but only because more and more people have dropped out of the labor force entirely as payrolls continued to shrink.

Economic growth came in at 2.4 percent for the second quarter of 2003. That was better than expected, but it needs to hit 4 percent or higher to reduce unemployment. Bush's cheerleaders say that will happen, in well-choreographed fashion, in the election year.

But will it? Timing is everything. George Bush the first missed his rendezvous with prosperity in 1992. And the policies of Bush I were not as damaging as those of Bush II.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/6/2003 09:36:16 AM |

Racism and the heartland reparations drive

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 6, 2003 - 4:34am.
on Race and Identity
Racism and the heartland reparations drive

By Derrick Z. Jackson, 8/6/2003

I RECENTLY WROTE a piece saying America should apologize for slavery. This resulted in an expected deluge of e-mails castigating me for dredging up events that most white Americans today deny any tie to.

Most e-mails did not touch with a 10-foot American flagpole whether their white privilege of today is in any way due to the fact that America grew fat on slavery for nearly 250 years and white immigrants moved past black folks for another 100 years in housing and education under government-sanctioned segregation and repression.

This was on top of columns defending affirmative action for African-Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans at the University of Michigan. It's over, the e-mails said. Get over it. Get a life.

So imagine my feigned surprise that even as many white readers continue to vent their anger at me, Congress is openly entertaining reparations for white people in the plains, the prairies, the swamps, and the mountains. Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and 16 other Democratic and Republican senators representing South Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Georgia, Louisiana, and West Virginia have introduced the New Homestead Act.

In 1862 the federal government established the original Homestead Act, which used free land to lure people out West (well, free once it was stolen by slaughtering the Indians). One hundred forty-one years later, the rural parts of America's heartland, once so fertile for so many small farmers and mom-and-pop entrepreneurs, changed as agribusiness and Wal-Mart moved in. Small factories lost jobs overseas. Young people with fewer opportunities fled for the bright lights and computer-oriented work of the cities.

In the heartland, 70 percent of rural counties have lost an average of 30 percent of their population in the last 20 years. The states that have lost the most people since 1980 have been the Dakotas, Kansas, Nebraska, Montana, and Iowa. ''The heartland of our country is being relentlessly depopulated, and we need to do something about it,'' Dorgan has said.

When factories and mills left the black community in the Northern Rust Belt or the Southern mills, America said tough luck, that's how the global economy crumbles. No one did anything about the redlining that froze home values in black communities while prices soared in the suburbs. Decimated black farmers say it is still hard to get loans from the US Department of Agriculture despite a 1999 settlement (there were black farmers who took advantage of the Homestead Act, but their communities withered away a long time ago). For years the Urban League called for a Marshall Plan to rescue inner cities.

The response of Capitol Hill and the states to lack of opportunity for African-Americans was an unprecedented prison boom. Ten percent of African-American men ages 25 through 29 are in jail, compared with 1.2 percent of white Americans the same age.

Dorgan and his fellow senators are not so heartless for the heartland. For recent college graduates who resettle for at least five years in depopulated plains counties, the government would repay up 50 percent of their college loans up to $10,000.

Home buyers who stayed five years would get a $5,000 tax credit on their purchase. Any losses in value could be deducted from their taxes. New businesses would get tax credits. A $3 billion venture capital fund would guarantee up to 40 percent of the smaller start-ups and up to 60 percent of large manufacturing ventures.

Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska has also suggested tax incentives that would make it easier for banks to make loans to new small farmers. ''No one county or state can turn this around on its own,'' Dorgan has said. ''But the country as a whole can do it if it decides the heartland is important to save.''

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/6/2003 09:34:47 AM |

Hispanics in U.S. Report Optimism

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 6, 2003 - 4:24am.
on Race and Identity
Hispanics in U.S. Report Optimism
By SIMON ROMERO and JANET ELDER

A new survey of the nation's Hispanics finds they are far more optimistic about life in the United States and their children's prospects than are non-Latinos, despite the fact that many are much poorer and many do not intend to gain the full benefits of citizenship.

The New York Times/CBS News poll found that nearly 70 percent of foreign-born Hispanics say they identify more with the United States than with their country of origin. Still, many continue to send money to family members even though they rarely visit their home countries.

Sixty-four percent of Latinos said there was no specific instance when they felt discriminated against because of their ethnicity. Those who said they had had such an experience said it involved employment or a general sense of exclusion.

The finding was in sharp contrast to that of the poll's non-Hispanic blacks. Seventy-three percent of them said they had experienced discrimination, while 25 percent said they had not.

Much of the optimism expressed by Latinos appears to be related to the fact that most, 57 percent, said they were immigrants. Just 39 percent said they were born in the United States, making it clear that the expectation of better economic circumstances for themselves and their children was inherent in their decision to uproot their lives and come to the United States.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/6/2003 09:24:30 AM |

Blacks Counsel Caution on Liberia

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 6, 2003 - 4:21am.
on Africa | Race and Identity
Blacks Counsel Caution on Liberia
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS

WASHINGTON — African-Americans have historically been skeptical of military intervention by their country in the affairs of others, at least when compared with other Americans. It is not surprising, then, that a New York Times survey being issued today, which asked whether the United States should try to change a dictatorship to democracy or stay out, found that 82 percent of African-American respondents wanted America to mind its own business, as opposed to 58 percent of all others.

Carroll Doherty, editor of the Pew Research Center, said there had been a consistent gap between whites and blacks in recent military undertakings.

The Iraq war has proved especially divisive, he said, with 72 percent of whites saying Washington was right to attack Iraq, compared with 41 percent of blacks, according to a June poll. But he noted that African-Americans were similarly skeptical during the first Persian Gulf War and the battle for Kosovo.

Even when it comes to Liberia there is disagreement within the black community over what the United States should do — despite the fact that the Congressional Black Caucus last week called on the Bush administration to act.

The president has so far balked at sending in troops, opting instead to offer cash and logistical assistance to West African peacekeeping forces, while positioning ships off the Liberian coast with 2,300 Marines on board.

A number of African-Americans support that stance — though not always for the same reasons as the administration. They include some with a radical, pro-Africa agenda, who are nonetheless urging the United States to keep out of Liberia, or limit its role to helping international peacekeepers.

"Our view is that the Liberian situation is part of a West African crisis and ultimately needs to be settled by West Africans," said Bill Fletcher, president of the TransAfrica Forum, an organization that fought apartheid in South Africa and fosters contacts between Africa and the United States.

A decade ago, when the Clinton administration agonized over whether to intervene in Haiti to restore its elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, TransAfrica's founder, Randall Robinson went on a hunger strike and black lawmakers raised a daily ruckus that compelled the administration to send in troops. But when it comes to Liberia, that unity is missing, Mr. Fletcher noted.

To be sure, some of the strongest advocates for American intervention are African-American. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell has voiced remorse at the administration's reticence and the Rev. Jesse Jackson has chided Washington for keeping "a killing field on the back burner."

But some black Americans say they would support deploying troops only if they were assured of a peaceful reception.

"If you told us were going to fight a war, we'd oppose it," said one Congressional aide who is close to the Black Caucus.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/6/2003 09:21:50 AM |

PrometheiiDown at the bottom of

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 5, 2003 - 5:54pm.
on Old Site Archive

Prometheii

Down at the bottom of the page, where it doesn't interfere with the clean page design, is the little BlogMatrix buttone which indicates I've let them do the scut work of providing an RSS feed for this site. Hey, if it's good enough for Crooked Timber, it's good enough for the kid.

Now, the thing is, I'm not using Blogger Pro so I'm not sure if I get to use the title field in the latest version of Blogger. So at this point the title is the whole entry which kinda defeats the purpose, I'd think. I need to look into this. Meanwhile, you get to see how many entries I've posted anyway.

Interestingly enough, in the process of setting it up they tell you to enter part of your blog's name and I entered "prometheus" and came up with three Prometheii, from parallel universes I guess. Two, including the already blogrolled PrometheusSpeaks are progressive political bloggers, though Prometheus Unleashed does movies and digital video stuff too. The third, a LiveJournal blog named Within This Shell, is the personal blog of a young man who's deeply into science fiction, Power Rangers, anime and such. He also runs The Prometheus Realm Portal which, because I am also into science fiction and anime (skip Power Rangers but you can get hurt trying to stand between me and the TV when Yu-gi-oh! is on) actually looks to have a cool selection of stuff to play with.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/5/2003 10:54:08 PM |

A singular problem

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 5, 2003 - 5:58am.
on Africa
Geography helps to explain Africa's woes

From:Reuters
Tuesday, 5th August, 2003

By Ed Stoddard

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - It's good for your country to have a coast -- or at least lots of its population in close proximity to the sea -- and not just for trips to the beach.

Recent studies are confirming what many economists have long known: that geography matters. Size does too.

This may be especially relevant to Africa, helping to explain why it is the world's poorest continent and why the wealth gap between it and the rest of the planet is growing.

"More countries are land-locked (in Africa), with small populations, than in any other region," says the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

"This impedes growth by making exports costly and limiting incentives for foreign direct investment," it says.

In its 2003 Human Development Report, the UNDP looks at economic growth rates by population size and geographical factors between 1980 and 1998.

Small countries are classified as those with fewer than 40 million people in 1990 while those with three quarters of the population living more than 60 miles from the coast are classified as inland -- even if they have a coastline.

"Small and inland countries enjoyed much less economic success over the same period (than large or coastal countries)," the report says.

"The findings are particularly relevant for Africa, since 33 of the 55 countries counted as small and inland are on that continent," it says.

GEOGRAPHY IMPORTANT, BUT NOT A STRAIT-JACKET

Economists going back to Adam Smith in the 18th century have argued that geography is a vital ingredient of economic success, and analysts have in recent years been closely examining its impact on development.

"Nearly all landlocked countries in the world are poor, except for a handful in Western Europe that are deeply integrated into the regional European market," says a 1998 paper by John Luke Gallup and Jeffrey Sachs which was presented to the Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics.

Botswana, according to Gallup and Sachs, was the richest non-European landlocked country with a population of more than a million in 1998, and is widely seen as an African success story.

But as they point out, it "owes its pride of place to well-managed diamond mines."

…Analysts also point to unfair trade practices that prevent many African goods, particularly food products, from penetrating rich markets. High debt loads are another millstone.

And many African countries have suffered from shoddy governance, rampant corruption and brutal dictatorships.

But geography does seem to be playing significant a role. The trick is to build the ladders that breach this natural obstacle to prosperity -- such as regional cooperation -- and give Africans the opportunity to climb out of their poverty.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/5/2003 10:58:15 AM |

Man, I love my commenters,

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 5, 2003 - 3:51am.
on Old Site Archive

Man, I love my commenters, part 2

Dog of Flanders and I are having a bit of a tiff in the comments to Chords I, which is about to scroll into the bit bucket. I don't think either of us are done, though. So I'm leaving it alone for today and elevating the discussion to the front page tomorrow so we have another three days to have at it. Check the comments today because I'm only going to elevate his last comment rather than the whole thread.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/5/2003 08:51:44 AM |

Man, I love my commenters

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 5, 2003 - 3:42am.
on Race and Identity

Man, I love my commenters, part 1

Cobb commented on my distinction between Black Conservatives© and conservative Black people by bringing his own definition. I just jazzed it up typographically.

Old School Core Values:

Pride
We are African Americans of all backgrounds and ethnicities. We are proud of our heritage, and respect the lives, triumphs and tribulations of our forebears in this country and beyond. We aim to represent their greatest hopes for us and honor their memory.

Patriotism
The United States of America is our home, not simply by default but by choice. We take our duty to our home seriously and we defend it. We seek to improve it by our work and values and leave it better than we found it.

Family
We are extended families and we put family first. It is the primary organization to which our lives are dedicated. We fight for the proper upbringing of our children. We demand respect and consideration of our elders. We love and support our brothers and sisters.

Industry
We work twice as hard and sometimes get half as far, but we work with dignity and we expect and enjoy our rewards. We are not materialistic but we know the value of a dollar. We seek self-improvement through creativity, dedication and effort in our jobs, businesses and partnerships.

Piety
We have abiding faith in God and the principles of righteousness. We strive to be true to transcendent values and take the long view of our purpose on Earth. We conduct ourselves as vessels of spirit and we guard our own souls and the souls of others from corruption.

Liberty
We believe in the rule of law and rights of people to be free and to determine their own fate. We fight tyranny and oppression of all kinds keeping in mind the battles of those who struggled and died that we might be free.

Pluralism
We believe in a tolerant and open society, and we welcome all people to enjoy its benefits and responsibilities.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/5/2003 08:42:26 AM |

Editorial RunWhite Collar BluesGovernment and

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 5, 2003 - 3:24am.
on Old Site Archive

Editorial Run

White Collar Blues
Government and the rich win and educated workers lose when jobs go offshore
By David Friedman, David Friedman, a contributing editor to Opinion, is a senior fellow at the New America Foundation.

News that major U.S. technology companies, among them IBM, plan to export thousands of high-skill jobs overseas indicates that worrisome trends in the U.S. economy will probably strengthen. Optimists contend that such "workforce flexibility" guarantees that something new — the Internet, biotechnology — will turn up to create similar high-paying jobs and carry the economy forward. But rather than triggering real economic development, moving white-collar jobs offshore underscores how reliant the U.S. economy has become on inflating high-end wealth and paper assets to compensate for large-scale job losses. If this pattern holds, the next boom may quickly mutate into another unsustainable bubble, further limiting America's industrial options.

America's habit of revenge
(By James Carroll)

''ALTHOUGH THE WAR did not make any immediate demands on me physically, while it lasted it put a complete stop to my artistic activity because it forced me into an agonizing reappraisal of my fundamental assumptions.'' These words were spoken by Thomas Mann in his Nobel laureate speech in 1929, a reflection of the broad psychological rupture inflicted on the European mind by World War I. But just as war can lead to the ''reappraisal of fundamental assumptions,'' it can do the opposite, reinforcing assumptions to the point of shutting down debate. That seems a more American story.

Everything Is Political
By PAUL KRUGMAN
The erosion of the Treasury's intellectual integrity is exemplified by its denial and deception on the subject of tax cuts.

Cartoons
I had to. It's not my fault!

Tom Toles (you know, I'm getting sick of him being on point every day) on critical research by Big Pharma.
Steve Sack on the engine that drives the US Economy.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/5/2003 08:24:23 AM |

"The total ass-ness of wiki"I

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 5, 2003 - 3:02am.
on Old Site Archive

"The total ass-ness of wiki"

I will never get over that line.

Anyway, seems the renaming of TheAPIThatWouldHaveBeenFormerlyKnownAsEcho has hit a snag, and it's related to…well, see the title.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/5/2003 08:02:08 AM |

I'll believe it when I

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 5, 2003 - 2:46am.
on Old Site Archive

I'll believe it when I see it

And even then Ill probably wake up and snap out of it.

U.S. May Punish Israel for Building Fence in W. Bank
Because security barrier enters Palestinian land, recent loan guarantees could be reduced.
By Robin Wright, Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is preparing to notify Israel that it may reduce recently approved loan guarantees in proportion to the amount Israel spends on a new security fence and on Jewish settlements, U.S. officials said Monday.

The move, meant to make clear the administration's objections to the fact that the fence is being built partly inside the West Bank, would mark a rare instance of Washington penalizing Israel for its policies.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/5/2003 07:46:35 AM |

At last, at last, at

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 5, 2003 - 2:41am.
on Old Site Archive

At last, at last, at last!

In honor of the American Constitution Society, I won't call Joe Lieberman an emergency Republican for a week.

A call to order sounds for liberals on message

By Peter S. Canellos, Globe Columnist, 8/5/2003

WASHINGTON -- They filled the second floor of the Capitol Hilton, rumpled soldiers of the academic left, lining up behind microphones, and well-groomed former Clinton officials, their arms extended in a perpetual handshake. The first convention of the American Constitution Society, devoted to connecting left-leaning law professors, politicians, and practicing attorneys, drew a crowd of 800 under a banner proclaiming ''Human Dignity, Individual Rights, and Genuine Equality.''

Founded to ''counter the conservative dominance of the law,'' the group aims to be a counterweight to the right-leaning Federalist Society, which over the last 20 years has promoted conservative thinkers, including scores of Bush judicial appointees.

… There is more than a desire for payback behind these efforts. They are part of a broader recognition that conservatives have created a dominant network linking politics and private organizations. GOP fund-raisers support a shelf-full of right-wing magazines, which in turn promote provocative conservative authors like Ann Coulter. These writers then bestow the movement's approval on chosen thinkers, many identified by the powerful 30,000-member Federalist Society.

Last year, at the Federalist Society's 20th-anniversary banquet, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia regaled the crowd with memories of mentoring the first Federalist chapter at the University of Chicago. Since Scalia was the driving force behind the Supreme Court's decision granting George W. Bush the presidency over Al Gore, the potential reach of a broad ideological network cannot be underestimated.

But as the liberals start to hook up the cars in their own ideological train, much of the political world is awaiting the inevitable crash. While conservatives answer a call to order like the members of a Moose Lodge, liberals fall to cat-fighting like contestants on a reality-TV dating show. Or so the thinking goes.

So it was a surprise that the convention, a mix of seminars and get-togethers, including a ''Janet Reno Dance Party'' hosted by the former attorney general, went off over the weekend without missing a beat.

''They're confronted with a conservative ascendancy now, and the question is how they'll respond,'' said David Lyle, the deputy director. ''What they need is a means for responding. Not responding is not an option now.''

Surprisingly, most members seemed to understand the need to band together, not challenge one another's orthodoxy. Many exulted over a session at which people from the same geographic areas were introduced, forging the first links in a grass-roots network.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/5/2003 07:41:03 AM |

Adding water to the soap

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 5, 2003 - 2:31am.
on Old Site Archive

Adding water to the soap of the housing bubble

Surge in Rates May Hurt Pillar of the Economy
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
A little more than a month after the Fed reduced its overnight lending rate, mortgage rates have shot up, abruptly stalling many howeowners' plans to refinance.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/5/2003 07:31:15 AM |

First step toward The MatrixI

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 5, 2003 - 2:28am.
on Old Site Archive

First step toward The Matrix

I do not make this stuff up.

Power from blood could lead to 'human batteries'

August 4 2003

A device that produces electricity from blood could be used to turn people into "human batteries".

Researchers in Japan are developing a method of drawing power from blood glucose, mimicking the way the body generates energy from food.

Theoretically, it could allow a person to pump out 100 watts - enough to illuminate a light bulb.

But that would entail converting all the food eaten by the individual into electricity. In practice, less power would be generated since food is needed by the body.

However the scientists say the "bio-nano" generator could be used to run devices embedded in the body, or sugar-fed robots.

The team at electronics giant Panasonic's Nanotechnology Research Laboratory near Kyoto has so far only managed to produce very low power levels.

But the scientists ultimately expect to gain much greater performance from the device.

The battery is based on an enzyme capable of stripping glucose of its electrons, The Engineer magazine reported.

Dr Kazuo Eda, heading the research, said: "It is like the metabolism of food. Human bodies can process glucose and obtain energy. When glucose is oxidised, electrons can be obtained."

He believed bio-nano fuel cells were the next step for researchers after generators powered by hydrogen, natural gas and methanol now being developed for the car and energy industries.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/5/2003 07:28:32 AM |

Liberal Media coverage of pending

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 5, 2003 - 1:50am.
on Old Site Archive

Liberal Media coverage of pending Medicaid drug benefit bill

The Investor's Business Daily shows its liberal bias.

Firms May Cut Retiree Coverage If A Medicare Drug Benefit OK'd
BY SEAN HIGGINS

INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Congress is hammering out a final prescription drug benefit program for seniors. But that may spur employers to drop their own coverage to current and future retirees, possibly boosting their drug costs.

…a July 22 Congressional Budget Office analysis of the House and Senate bills found: "Under both acts, employers would have incentives to restructure their drug coverage and other forms of compensation so as to maximize federal subsidy payments."

The CBO estimated 32% of Medicare beneficiaries who have employer coverage under current law wouldn't get it under the House bill. Under the Senate bill, the loss was higher: 37%.

A Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation study of large private employers found that 23% would scale back their drug coverage if Medicare offered a benefit.

Those numbers make seniors' groups wary, as about 30% of Medicare beneficiaries have employer-sponsored health coverage.

The AARP calls it a "critical concern" and has hinted it may oppose a benefit if Congress doesn't fix that.

The National Association of Retired Federal Employees opposes a Medicare drug benefit. It's worried the federal government may use that to cut back on coverage to its own retirees.

"We believe it could easily become an incentive for . . . employer plans to reduce or eliminate prescription drug coverage currently provided," it said in a statement.

The problem, says Heritage Foundation analyst Edmund Haislmaier, is how the drug benefit would be set up. Both the House and Senate bills would make it easier for employers to push retirees into the new benefit than to maintain their current coverage.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/5/2003 06:50:41 AM |

Lies, damned lies and statistics

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 4, 2003 - 10:36pm.
on Old Site Archive

A couple of guys that work for The Heritage Foundation wrote this for the Washington Post:

Work: The Key to Welfare

By Brian Riedl and Robert Rector

Should Congress make work requirements for welfare recipients stricter? That's what would happen under a bill the House of Representatives has passed. It would require more recipients to work 40 hours a week instead of the current 30 and stop vocational training from counting as "work."

Bad idea, the critics say. They claim that education and training programs lead to successful, high-paying careers, while putting welfare recipients to work immediately traps them in low-paying, dead-end jobs.

Wrong.

Welfare recipients assigned to immediate work see their earnings increase more than twice as fast over the following five years as those first placed in education-based programs, according to calculations we made using data from the Manpower Demonstration Research Corp., a New York-based nonprofit group. In fact, most government-run job training programs barely raise hourly wage rates at all, a report commissioned by the U.S. Labor Department reveals.

If the goal of welfare reform is to raise earnings while reducing dependency, then quickly moving welfare recipients into real jobs is the answer. Prolonged classroom training tends to be the dead end.

I'm prepared to agree with this as far as thsi quote goes. Real jobs are always better than welfare. Most welfare recipients would prefer it. The question is, where are these real jobs coming from? We just had a highly touted drop in the unemployment rate. Less highly touted is the fact that the number of jobs fell during the period under discussion. This rather counter-intuitive result means that the labor pool shrunk faster than the job pool.

I think if the mortality rate increased enough to account for this we'd have heard about it. Having heard no such thing, it's safe to assume the people represented by the difference between the current and previous numbers are still around and still not working.

Of course that reduction in the size of the job pool is an artifact of statistics. We know this so well we may not think about it, but this administraton…in fact, every administration…should be held accountable for the real numbers because people don't stop being hungry or needing to pay bills because they've been unemployed so long the bean counters don't want to count them anymore.

I, of course, am merely ranting. MB at Wampum does better than that. She hoists them with their own petard.

The unemployment shell game continues

The unemployment rate dropped to 6.2% last month! Yippee!

[now comes the small print.]

The economy is still bleeding jobs; 44,000 net lost, with 71,000 in manufacturing and 16,000 in transportation. But, hey, there's a boom in temporary employment! Lose a good paying, good benefits, union factory job, and be happy with your new low paying, no bennies temp job. Sweet.

So how did the Administration do it? How did the economy lose jobs, and yet the unemployment rate managed to creep down two tenths of a percentage point?

Well, they shifted a record number of workers off the books; the civilian labor force decreased by 556,000.

Don't forget to scroll up a post and look at the graph detailing what she calls "real" unemployment: official unemployed, part-timers, and those "not in labor force". Nationally, that worked out to 12.3%. And given that unemployment in the Black communities runs at a fairly consistent twice the mainstream rate (which rate actually includes Black folks so it gets a little twisted thinking it through) a fair estimate would put roughly one in four Black folks in this condition.

Real Jobs

Our Heritage Foundation friends continue:

Before the 1996 welfare reforms, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) safety net was just that -- a net not only catching but also trapping nearly all who fell into it. Welfare reform replaced AFDC with a program called Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). This program was designed not as a net but as a trampoline, springing families back up to self-sufficiency by placing adults in permanent jobs.

The undeniable success of this approach is demonstrated by the more than 5 million people (including 3 million children) who have risen out of poverty since the law was enacted. After remaining static for nearly a quarter-century, the poverty rate of black children has dropped by a third and is now at the lowest point in U.S. history. The poverty rate for single mothers has plummeted in a similar manner since 1996; it, too, is at the lowest point in national history.

But welfare reform wasn't perfect. Today less than half of TANF adult recipients are employed or preparing for employment in any way. Most remain idle and continue to collect welfare checks.

Now, if the effort to employ welfare recipients was less than perfect back when there was a far greater number of jobs available, reason suggests that the economy needs more real jobs to maintain the improved state, much less extend it to others. This thought is supported by the very study referenced in this Washington Post editorial.

The principle guiding the New Hope Project - a demonstration program that was implemented in two inner-city areas in Milwaukee from 1994 through 1998 - was that anyone who works full time should not be poor. New Hope offered low-income people who were willing to work full time several benefits, each of which was available for three years: an earnings supplement to raise their income above the poverty level; subsidized health insurance; subsidized child care; and, for people who had difficulty finding full-time work, referral to a wage-paying community service job. The program was designed to increase employment and income as well as use of health insurance and licensed child care, and it was hoped that children would be the ultimate beneficiaries of these changes.

A team of researchers at MDRC and the University of Texas at Austin is examining New Hope's effects in a large scale random assignment study. This interim report from the study focuses on the families and children of the 745 sample members who had at least one child between the ages of 1 and 10 when they entered the study. The new findings draw on administrative records and survey data covering the period up to five years after study entry (Year 5), that is, two years after the program ended. A final report will examine New Hope's effects after eight years.

Key Findings

  • Employment and Income. Parents in the New Hope group worked more and earned more than did parents in the control group. Although the effects diminished after Year 3, when the program ended, they did persist for some parents. The provision of community service jobs was important to increasing employment: 30 percent of program group members worked in a community service job while in New Hope. The program reduced poverty rates through Year 5.
  • Parents' Well-Being. Although New Hope had few effects on levels of material and financial hardship, it did increase parents' instrumental and coping skills. Program group members were more aware of "helping" resources in the community, such as where to find assistance with energy costs or housing problems, and more of them knew about the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). They also reported better physical health and fewer signs of depression than did control group members.
  • Parenting and Children's Activities. Although New Hope had few effects on parenting, it did increase children's time in formal center-based child care and after-school programs. Even in Year 5, after eligibility for New Hope's child care subsidies had ended, children in New Hope families spent more time than their control group counterparts in center-based child care and after-school programs and correspondingly less time in home-based and unsupervised care. New Hope also increased adolescents' participation in structured out of school activities, such as youth groups and clubs.
  • Children's Outcomes. At the end of both Year 2 and Year 5, children in the New Hope group performed better than control group children on several measures of academic achievement, and their parents reported that the children got higher grades in reading and literacy skills. New Hope also improved children's positive social behavior. All these effects were more pronounced for boys than for girls.
The New Hope findings support the wisdom of recent expansions in work supports for poor families, including increases in the value of the EITC and greater eligibility for Medicaid and child care subsidies. The program's lasting effects on children also have special relevance to the redesign of the nation's income support system. Language proposed in the 2003 reauthorization of the 1996 federal welfare reform legislation would establish improving the well-being of poor children as the law's overarching purpose. The present findings show that fulfilling this purpose need not be at odds with the goal of moving parents to work.

Take a good look at the items I've emphasized. Income supplements to bring the participants up above the poverty level. Health care and child care. Community service jobs for 30 percent of the participants…jobs that served the community, creating these jobs would not be a selfless gesture.

Look at the benefits they gained. Not a major increase in creature comforts but better knowledge of the programs that enabled them to make ends meet…being above the poverty level does not mean you can afford to meet your needs without assistance—the very kinds of assistance that are at risk at the hands of the current administration and its congressional allies. They made greater use of supervised after school care, which resulted in better social behavior among their children and increased educational skills. And the reduced stress these changes brought about improved the parents health. All major benefits. None of which the families could bring about by their own agency. All the results of utilizing programs the support of which are simply not on the Compassionate Conservative© agenda. Which means it is incredibly hypocritical for the Heritage Foundation to spin this report in support of its agenda…

President Bush and his congressional allies want to strengthen welfare reform by increasing the TANF work-participation rate to 70 percent; opponents seem content excluding millions of families from working or even preparing to work. Yet those who would enact legislation that leaves hundreds of thousands of welfare recipients in idle dependence are clearly harming those they wish to help.

…and that is why it's no surprise they would continue with this disingenuous accusation.

Truth and Consequences

If real jobs were available, almost everyone would prefer them. But with jobs becoming the chief American export, with people being moved from work to unemployment to subemployment it almost seems like this administration and its allies are trying to drive everyone earning less than $30,000 per year into extinction.

Rather than accept the Heritage Foundation's characterization of its political opposition's motives, I suggest visiting The Coalition on Human Needs. And equally important is to get a look at the reality of welfare, both socially and monetarily. The American Psychological Association tells us in its report Making 'Welfare to Work' Really Work:

Myth: Poverty Results From a Lack of Responsibility
Fact: Poverty Results From Low Wages

Myth: A Huge Chunk of My Tax Dollars Supports Welfare Recipients
Fact: Welfare Costs 1 Percent of the Federal Budget

Myth: People on Welfare Become Permanently Dependent on the Support
Fact: Movement off Welfare Rolls Is Frequent

Myth: Most Welfare Recipients Are African American Women
Fact: Most Welfare Recipients Are Children-Most Women on Welfare Are White

Myth: Welfare Encourages Out-of-Wedlock Births and Large Families
Fact: The Average Welfare Family Is No Bigger Than the Average Nonwelfare Family

Myth: Welfare Families Use Their Benefits to Fund Extravagance
Fact: Welfare Families Live Far Below the Poverty Line

So what, exactly, is the problem? Why exactly is the administration and its allies so focused on a "problem" that barely impacts the size and budget expenditure of federal government?

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/5/2003 03:36:47 AM |

But what do you do

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 4, 2003 - 12:46pm.
on Old Site Archive

But what do you do in the meantime?

Yes, it would be better if race were not a factor.
But what do you do in the meantime?

Yes, it would be better for Neanderthals to learn to respect women as fellow humans.
But what do you do in the meantime?

Yes, it would be better if businesses became such good citizens that regulation became unnecessary.
But what do you do in the meantime?

Yes, it would be better if everyone who wants to work has a job.
But what do you do in the meantime?

Yes, it would be better to make all schools safe for embattled gay children.
But what do you do in the meantime?

Yes, it would be better to judge only on merit.
But what do you do in the meantime?

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/4/2003 05:46:13 PM |

Ain't this some shyt?From karmalisedAmerica

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 4, 2003 - 12:32pm.
on Old Site Archive

Ain't this some shyt?

From karmalised

America silences Niger leaders in Iraq nuclear row
By David Harrison in Niamey, Niger
(Filed: 03/08/2003)

America has warned the Niger government to keep out of the row over claims that Saddam Hussein sought to buy uranium for his nuclear weapons programme from the impoverished West African state.

…American officials denied that there had been any attempt to "gag" the Niger government. The Niamey official, however, said that there was "a clear attempt to stop any more embarrassing stories coming out of Niger".

I think we should be clear the "embarrassing stories" didn't come out of Niger. They came out of London and Washington, D.C.

And I repeat, Niger is totally justified in seeking a retraction when the USofA has

  1. Claimed the right to overthrow any government that it feels supports terrorists
  2. Accused Iraq of being a source of terrorism and nuclear threat
  3. Claimed Iraq was seeking nuclear material from Niger
  4. Been forced to release documents that showed Iraq's resources were targeted for redistribution long before 9/11
  5. Will need nuclear material, which Niger has, to pursue its own restarted nuclear weapons development programs
  6. Has declared the next time they overthrow a government it will go much smoother
Niger has to be nervous as hell. I know I would be.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/4/2003 05:32:49 PM |

RUN! RUN!The editor at Blah3.com

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 4, 2003 - 11:12am.
on Old Site Archive

RUN! RUN!

The editor at Blah3.com has gotten engaged.

And immediately below that announcement (yes, you must see him brag before getting to the point of this post) is a story about The American Action Market, which is much like the Terrorism Market Poindexter tried to set up, but focusing on a much surer thing than a terrorist attack—American military action.

The American Action Market (AAM) refines this approach by trading futures contracts that deal with the two most important questions facing the world today: (1) What will the U.S. government do next? (2) What is informing the U.S. government's current behavior?

Some of the contracts traded on AAM will be based on objective data and observable events, as on a horse track, e.g.

  • the next White House lie to break into the news
  • the next country the White House will threaten, and when
  • the next foreign leader to move from the CIA payroll to White House "most wanted" list
  • the lifespan of various DARPA projects, such as Total Information Awareness and Babylon
  • the first White House staffer to resign in disgrace, and when
Other AAM contracts will more closely resemble stocks on the market; they will be based on possibilities and scenarios that may or may not be verifiable, but that may be progressively revealed over time (e.g. via journalistic sleuth-work, public statements by concerned politicians, or Congressional hearings):

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/4/2003 04:12:18 PM |

Ongoing detailAnyone with a specific

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 4, 2003 - 11:04am.
on Old Site Archive

Ongoing detail

Anyone with a specific interest in the Corporate Influence on Government ought to be reading Arms and The Man. It provides ongoing commentary on exactly which corporations are making money from the war in Iraq and its aftermath.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/4/2003 04:04:56 PM |

Sometimes you have to link

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 4, 2003 - 8:04am.
on Old Site Archive

Sometimes you have to link to the big dogs

Well, I could lie… anyway, Daily Kos gave up this interesting tidbit:

State Dept. Changes Seen if Bush Reelected
Powell and Armitage Intend to Step Down

By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 4, 2003; Page A01

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and his deputy, Richard L. Armitage, have signaled to the White House that they intend to step down even if President Bush is reelected, setting the stage for a substantial reshaping of the administration's national security team that has remained unchanged through the September 2001 terrorist attacks, two wars and numerous other crises.

Armitage recently told national security adviser Condoleezza Rice that he and Powell will leave on Jan. 21, 2005, the day after the next presidential inauguration, sources familiar with the conversation said. Powell has indicated to associates that a commitment made to his wife, rather than any dismay at the administration's foreign policy, is a key factor in his desire to limit his tenure to one presidential term.

Rice and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz are the leading candidates to replace Powell, according to sources inside and outside the administration. Rice appears to have an edge because of her closeness to the president, though it is unclear whether she would be interested in running the State Department's vast bureaucracy.

If this happened, then Rumsfeld will finally have achieved the merger of the Department of AttackDefense and the State Department he's been working for all this time. Just think of how our allies will react to that.

Though Kos says

Problem is, Powell is the administration's lone symbol of moderation. Powell's presence in the 2000 elections helped reassure many that Bush would not rule from the Right.

Given Bush's track record, Powell's perception of moderation is more important than ever. Word that he's on the way out will not do Bush any favors.

I'm more in agreement with the best comment I've read on the subject:

British Labour MP Glenda Jackson, who has called for Tony Blair's resignation as British Prime Minister told News Online: "I can't see how Powell restrained anything and if he did try, he failed. He only turned to the UN because the US and UK wanted to validate a decision to invade which had already been taken.

"I can't see that his going would make much difference. It might be that the administration has learned from its mistake and would put in a more openly committed ideologue."

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/4/2003 01:04:31 PM |

Good luck, dawg

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 4, 2003 - 5:38am.
on Race and Identity
GOP breaks its vows to black voters

At this crucial time in American life, President Bush has before him a number of options that call for supreme boldness but are well within the realm of possibility.

Bush needs to contemplate something I once saw when Jack Kemp, then the U.S. housing secretary, Bertha Gilke, a black community leader and the first President George Bush spoke together in St. Louis. At one point, Gilke said that as a life-long Democrat, she had never expected to be on a stage with two Republicans, but she had to admit that Bush and Kemp had made it possible for working-class black people to own their homes.

Back then, the GOP was bent on taking black votes away from the Democrats. But that interest seems to have waned, and now bitter black Republicans don't believe the party has any intention of engaging blacks by moving on inarguable problems.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/4/2003 10:38:49 AM |

Aw, HELL nawI have no

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 4, 2003 - 5:35am.
on Old Site Archive

Aw, HELL naw

I have no definitive source for this. But I believe it

elimiDATE Auditions

To interested parties from Xxxxx Casting:

elimiDATE is back for more auditions. They will be held at The Studio Center 915 Fee Dr. Sacramento, CA. on Sunday August 27 from 10 am until 4 pm.

If you fit the following description and are interested please e-mail us for an appointment at [email protected]. [p6:no way do I help this shit, even by accident] On the e-mail subject line please mention elimiDATE. Each interview will take 10 minutes and we will put you on tape.

The shoot in Sacramento will occur within the next months. Those selected will be on national television and have dinner and a limo ride.

Here's what we need specifically ASAP:

Black female players - Must be 21-26; thin (no larger than size 6, proportionate to height) and will date a white guy. Think Tyra Banks or Halle Berry. Maybe some ghetto-fabulous.

White female pickers- Must be super HOT- beautiful and sexy but not trashy. Model cute, 21-26. She needs to be very flirty and able to hold a conversation. Absolutely no strippers/ dancers.

White male pickers/ players - ONLY audition if you come across some extraordinarily good looking men- they must be at least 5'11", have a full head of hair, look good in swim trunks and have straight teeth.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/4/2003 10:35:11 AM |

I forgot to note the

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 4, 2003 - 5:31am.
on Old Site Archive

I forgot to note the blog I stole this from. I'll identify it later though.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/4/2003 10:31:09 AM |

Please?Can I skip the news

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 4, 2003 - 5:23am.
on Old Site Archive

Please?

Can I skip the news this morning? Not like there's anything even more perverse than normal; I actually don't know, having not read it yet. I just got other stuff working I'd rather deal with at the moment.

UPDATE: Yes, there is something more perverse than normal.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/4/2003 10:23:59 AM |

Absolute IdealistsKieran at Crooked Timber

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 4, 2003 - 5:22am.
on Old Site Archive

Absolute Idealists

Kieran at Crooked Timber gives another example of how Conservatives© fit the definition below by taking a shot at what has become the easiest target in all BlogNet.

When Bad Analogies Go Rancid
Posted by Kieran

So I trot over to Instapundit for the first time in several months and find the latest version of “The absence of evidence isn’t evidence of absence” defence for the lack of Iraqi WMDs. (It’s been interesting to see the Hawks all become experts on the subtle metaphysics of causation, events and omissions, incidentally. They sound quite Hegelian with that line.)

OBVIOUSLY, THE ANTHRAX-BY-MAIL ATTACKS NEVER HAPPENED — otherwise surely the FBI would have found something by now … And they’ve had access to the entire country for months! Years, even.
Er, they did find something, just after the attacks. I believe it was anthrax. It arrived in the mail. It killed some people. The FBI also know the places in the country where weaponized anthrax can be made. They’ve been in and out of them for 18 months. And could you remind me of the parallel Iraqi WMD attack on the United States? Sorry, what was your point again?

See ya in another few months.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/4/2003 10:22:11 AM |

BTWI'll not be posting anything

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 4, 2003 - 4:36am.
on Old Site Archive

BTW

I'll not be posting anything like "Omniscience, Omnipotence and Free Will" on P6. Just in case it worried you.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/4/2003 09:36:44 AM |

Not trying to start nothing,

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 4, 2003 - 4:00am.
on Old Site Archive

Not trying to start nothing, but…

I'm wondering how many progressives blogroll the likes of Instapundit and Andrew Sullivan, and why.

Hm. Time to get back to the news, looks like.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/4/2003 09:00:07 AM |

The critical question this raisesAshcroft

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 3, 2003 - 10:42pm.
on Old Site Archive

The critical question this raises

Ashcroft rules out gay 'marriage,' but not civil unions

Attorney General John Ashcroft yesterday left open the prospect of a system of civil unions for same-sex couples amid the raging debate over homosexual "marriage."

Mr. Ashcroft said in an interview on "Fox News Sunday" that he supported President Bush's call to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

But he declined to comment on the Bush administration's stance on civil unions, which would grant same-sex couples many of the same rights enjoyed by married couples.

"That's a very complex question that I'm not going to make a recommendation on. We're doing research on that now," Mr. Ashcroft told the television program.

What the hell is John Ashcroft to be ruling anything out OR in? He's the goddam Attorney General. He should be enforcing laws. Period. He shouldn't even have an opinion of note.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/4/2003 03:42:56 AM |

Another day

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 3, 2003 - 10:34pm.
on Race and Identity

"Chord I" and "Been a busy weekend" have stirred up a little curiosity about my definitions.

Terry from The Storm asked in the comments:

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on the differences between a conservative black person (which, although politically i'm liberal, i am fairly conservative on some issues) and a Black conservative... I wonder if we'd agree....

I'm talking about the difference between an adjective and a noun. Actually an adjective and a brand name. A "Black Conservative", always fully capitalized, is a sub-species of "Conservatives", who curiously enough can be seen by observing those in power not to conserve a damn thing. The "Conservative" brand came into its final form around the time of Gingrich and his "Conservative Revolution."

A "Conservative" holds a specific and well-known set of political, economic and cultural positions. They also tend to deny the impact that events have on the expression of a given theory…they think reality must yield to the purest expression of their theories possible. A "Conservative" is, on a fundamental level, an absolute idealist. "Libertarians" are like "Conservatives" in this regard. It's probably the result of becoming a brand name.

A "Black Conservative" is a "Conservative" who "happens to be black." To a "Black Conservative," Black is an adjective, Conservative is a noun.

A conservative Black person is a Black person who holds the political, economic and cultural positions traditionally held in the Black community. Education is primary, extended family is supported, acceptance of hard work as the means to achieve whatever is achievable (which last has unfortunate side effects if one believes nothing more can be achieved for whatever reason).

To a conservative Black person, conservative is an adjective, Black person is a noun phrase.


In that discussion with Cobb I said:

I figure a conservative Black man is fine; if I thought you were a Black Conservative, though, we'd have issues.
to which he just responded:

Hell, we just might have issues. I'm conservative like Albert Murray, Stanley Crouch & Wynton Marsalis, not like Clarence Pendleton, J.C. Watts and Alan Keyes. I really don't pay much attention to black neocons although I read a lot of Sowell at an impressionable age. At any rate I tend to go issue by issue rather than start from ideological purity and party loyalty. We shall see.

Oh, we'll have issues, but I usually do with folks who think. That's fine, though. Let me know what you think of the above.

I think in a sane world I'd be a centrist at "best". In discussion I have to work with words as commonly understood and the neocons have shifted the center to the degree that the far right has fallen off the edge of the world and the right lives where "there be monsters."

As things stand, I'm progressive as hell by common definition. That's fine... it lets me know who to approach and how to begin dealing rather than having any impact at all on what I choose to say.


And Mark, the Zenpundit, again in the comments:

Speaking for the Libertarians, if such a thing is possible, most are *not* as extreme as Murray Rothbard's zero regulation " anarcho-capitalism".

Most libertarians broadly defined and thinkers who influenced them including Ayn Rand, Friedrich von Hayek, Milton Friedman and the " Chicago School" of Economics generally acknowledge the value of the rule of law and an orderly if sharply limited government. Not buying into government ownership of Amtrak or confiscatory tax rates is not to be equated with a desire to restore feudalism or become a gun-totin'warlord in a Hobbesian fight to the finish.

My reply:

I understand that. My point, or John Constantine's with which I agree, is that the results of paring the government back to the point that your average libertarian-on-the-street promotes will result in social chaos.

Your problem is that the meaning of "libertarian" has been hijacked just as surely as the true meaning of "conservative" has been. We live in an age of extremists, Mark. Though for different reasons than Dickens, we can just as surely call this "the best of times, the worst of times."

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/4/2003 03:34:58 AM |

Been a busy weekend

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 3, 2003 - 6:16pm.
on Race and Identity

After a brief discussion with Cobb over the way he's shamed me into organizing my sidebar a little better, I now have a Libertarian section and a Conservative section. Guess where Cobb goes (no peeking).

Yup. Conservative.

The only reason this doesn't horrify me is there's a significant difference between a conservative Black person and a Black Conservative©. Another discussion for another day.

And you need to check out nightcrawler, a kind of last-but-not-least addition to the blogroll. Donald's blog is just starting up, and I have to admit to being surprised by some of what I've read:

Being born and raised in Pittsburgh PA, I feel a special affinity for this subject. As it says here "Prolific photojournalist and portrait photographer Charles Harris chronicled the African-American community in Pittsburgh for over forty years, producing more than 80,000 images which graphically conveyed the twentieth century black experience to a national audience."

Teenie Harris died on June 12, 1998, two weeks shy of his 90th birthday. I bring this up now because recently a friend alerted me to this web page which includes 200 of Harris' pictures from the documentary, "One Shot - The Life and Work of Teenie Harris." My friend has a personal link to Harris' photography. You see, his aunt appears in one of Harris' most famous photographs. She's the young woman on the far left.

There is another reason I mention Teenie Harris. Here is a man whose career spanned over 40 years and who was one of the most prolific photographers in America, and yet I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT HIM. I'm sorry to say I hadn't even recognized his name. As a white person living in America, I have to say this is just another example of why I feel continually undereducated.

This to me is one of the greatest and worst effects of racism. Invisibility. We've all heard of Ansel Adams. We celebrate the photography of Mathew Brady. The photographic work of Harold Edgerton is internationally known. I'm certain that it isn't just because Teenie Harris was black that his work has been overlooked in mainstream, i.e. "white" circles. But also because he concentrated mainly on black subjects. A double whammy of invisibility. Because you see, we white folks tend not to notice black folks unless they are playing sports, singing and dancing, selling drugs, or moving in next door. Now, granted, white people do all those things too, only we also are permitted to do all sorts of other things too.

OK, that's rather simplistic. And the more I think about it, maybe even untrue. That invisibility I so blithely mentioned seems to really be about an acute racist VISIBILITY. We white people only SEE black people either when they are doing what we expect them to be doing--playing basketball, for instance, or rapping on BET. Or even more acutely, when they're doing something we presumed only white people should be doing.

Plus he does they sketchy cartoon things, and you KNOW how I get about cartoons. Scroll to the bottom and if you don't see Pat Robertson talks to God who appears in the form of Issac Hayes, come back here to the link tto his archive.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/3/2003 11:16:32 PM |

Chords II

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 3, 2003 - 5:23pm.
on Race and Identity

When source as varied as Silt

A small but powerful minority has succeeded in indoctrinating the nation into believing that its culture is equal to, if not better than, that of America as a whole. Although members of this minority consistently underperform the rest of the nation educationally, economically, and socially—witness their dismal school performance, their sky-high crime rates, and their chronic poverty—America continues to pretend that they are victims in need of a helping hand to overcome a legacy of misery, violence and corruption. To such a point where it can safely be said that this minority rules the country—they receive far more Federal aid than other Americans, and they form a powerful, monolithic voting bloc that national politicians ignore at their peril.

…They come from a culture where violence, revenge, and honor are paramount. Their values, rooted in ancient, barbaric superstition, can best be described as primitive. And yet they insist, almost to a man, that their special culture is worth defending and promoting, and loudly condemn any attempts to drag them into the modern world as “bigotry” and “discrimination.”

And Cowboy Kahlil

…As each competed with constituencies under the GOP umbrella, they also competed, to a degree, with each other for a greater voice in Democratic platforms. But the strongest group trumping them all in both parties has been a regional one: the South. More than half the states are located, in whole or part, north of Missouri, yet in the past half century, through 13 elections, only in one did a candidate living north of Missouri win the Presidency. And he didn't last even three years before being assassinated... by a Southerner.

Though the Civil Rights acts of the Sixties created the initial impetus, Dems have been visibly moving towards an umbrella that does not require that constituency for the past four presidential elections. It was not till the last, with Gore - a borderline Southerner - that the Dems came within a whisker of victory without a single Southern state in their column.

The polarization and hostility of American politics has escalated during this shift, much as it did in a previous time in US history, when it culminated in the election of a despised Northerner and a poorly named 'Civil' War erupted. The one day losses occurring in several battles of the Civil War remain the deadliest in our history, far surpassing the two worst in the 138 years since: Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 attacks.

Clearly, we face the sobering reality that it's time to stop glossing over this part of the national character and ask some hard questions. Some will protest this introspection, accusing those of us asking the questions of a regional bias.

…I'm certain I'll hear critics a'plenty for even raising these issues at the crux of the matter. After all, whether looking at the longer history or the past half century, it's clear that matters of regionalism and race have produced some of the most hateful and shameful acts in our history. From assassination attempts on Lincoln, to Long, Malcolm X, King, JFK, RFK, Wallace and others, from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Act and beyond, race hatred crops up repeatedly. But isolating these events to race alone continues to gloss over the clear evidence of the regionalistic differences that have been present in most of them.

Asking these questions and exploring these roots, I wonder if the polarization in American politics will again reach the explosiveness we've seen so many times before. After all, some politicians continue to exploit these divisions and fan the fires of race and regional hatred for their political gain. Yet even the cynical Machiavellian greed of such politicians relies on the existing raw material of a significant portion of the Southern citizenry.

And The Black Commentator

We have seen and heard it all before, starting with the slaveholder Democrats’ secession from the Union in Charleston, December 20, 1860; to Strom Thurmond’s Dixiecrat desertion from the national party in 1948; to the wholesale southern white defection to the GOP that began with the Goldwater campaign of 1964 and continues without letup to this day.

At each of these historical junctures, the "progressives" of the time were urged to appease the ranting, rich white men of the Party and the stupid, racist poor white men and women who follow them. Lincoln tried, but (fortunately) the slaveholders insisted on war. In the following century, national Democrats resisted a civil rights platform as long as they could, but it took one speech from Hubert Humphrey to cause the Dixiecrats to bolt in 1948, anyway. Substantive civil rights legislation drove southern whites decisively to the GOP after 1964, firmly establishing the Republicans as the White Man’s Party of the South.

…find it necessary to reflect on the part Southern Culture's clinging to a romanticized notion of a racialized past plays in the harshness and divisiveness of the current social and political debate, it may be time for us all to look at it.

In fact, it's past time.

How much further along the path to full reconciliation would we be if the South hadn't fought against it tooth and nail? Even if they just took the "equal" part of "seperate but equal" seriously. After all, every ethnic group that has come to these shores started on the road to integration, not by forcing their way into mainstream America but by establishing enclaves where they lived and supported each other until they became an economic force to be reckoned with. Until they could use the only tool truly accepted in the USofA to advance themselves…money. Black people in the USofA had their efforts along these lines specifically disrupted as a matter or routine. Suppose the South had just not done that…suppose the schools were fully funded, social services provided on the same level as any other citizen received?

Suppose white Southerners had accepted Black Americans as humans, and not defined themselves in terms of their position relative to the local Black populace?

Follow the cause and effect. Be honest. How much of the root of our social ills can be traced back to an insistance that the South Must Rise Again?

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/3/2003 10:23:04 PM |

Chords IBrad Delong in responding

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 3, 2003 - 4:55pm.
on Old Site Archive

Chords I

Brad Delong in responding to a bit of nonsense from Arnold Kline's The Bottom Line, echoed and amplified by John Constantine at Hellblazer clearly state the fundamental error of Libertarianism. As John says:

And this pretty much sums up my feelings about what Government is and why I believe that things need to be regulated: Because without it we'd descend right back in to feudal despotism and roving bands of warlords. Which is why, I guess, that a majority of Libertarians have a gun fetish.

I'm a frikin' capitalist. I think the market is a fabulous idea. But it's simply a tool. And it's a tool that does whatever we tell it to. Like nuclear power, it can either be used for "good" or it can be used for "evil". And the question we have to answer is what do we want our government/economy/internet to turn out to be. It is a complete fantasy to believe that if we just "let things be", they will be the beautiful butterfly that is yearning to be free.

And believing in this fantasy world is simply complete lunacy. Just my opinion.

The default state of human organization is not democracy. People who believe the Libertarian fantasy of zero regulation simply have not noticed that a Liberal Democracy like the US is a singular event. Pretty much every government that came before was brutish, thuggish and despotic. And those were during the good times. The rest of the time - the majority of the time, it seems - humans have been ruled by roving bands of warlords.

And it's only through a lot of hard work by really dedicated, smart people that the US is still in the wonderful state that it is. That we've managed to keep our land as free as it is and as prosperous as it has become is that we've done a really good job of regulating things. Yea, regulating things.

I completely agree that the best regulation is the regulation you don't even notice. I'm not someone who believes we should just pile up money on the most oppressive regulation you can imagine. This is an idiotic, moronic belief.

Let's put it another way. If I start a garden, I weed the heck out of it. I'm out there ever other day pulling those bastard weeds out of my garden. I take care of the things I'm growing and make sure that they have all the nutrients they need. And I make sure they get the right amount. Not too much, not too little. I check on the plants every day to make sure they're doing all right. I worry over them and fuss over them.

In short, I'm regulating the entire environment.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/3/2003 09:55:53 PM |

Can't say I blame themWe

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 3, 2003 - 4:27pm.
on Old Site Archive

Can't say I blame them

We do NOT want accusations of supporting terrorism floating about when the USofA has stated they intend to restart its own nuclear weapons program and we are a known source of recources they will need to do so, now do we?

Niger demands formal exoneration of Bush's Iraq-uranium allegation

The Associated Press
8/3/03 10:39 AM

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) -- Niger's president demanded the U.N. nuclear agency exonerate it of any claims it had any uranium dealings with Iraq, a widely discounted accusation included in President Bush state of the union address.

Ahead of the U.S.-led of invasion of Iraq, Bush said British intelligence possessed a document showing that Iraq had approached Niger to obtain uranium. The claim was used to suggest Iraq was pursuing a nuclear weapons program.

U.N. officials have called the document a forgery, and Bush administration officials have since said it should not have been cited in the president's speech.

"This affair represents nothing other than accusations without foundation," Niger President Mamadou Tandja said in a televised address late Saturday in the arid West African nation.

The Vienna-based U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency should "publicly wash Niger of all suspicions before the U.N. Security Council," Tandja declared.

"Without that, our country can only remain harmed and hampered by a situation in which it isn't implicated in any way," Tandja said in the speech, which marked the 43rd anniversary of Niger's independence from France.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/3/2003 09:27:47 PM |

Omniscience, Omnipotence and Free WillHeavy

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 3, 2003 - 4:22pm.
on Old Site Archive

Omniscience, Omnipotence and Free Will

Heavy title. And it was going to be a heavy essay, but I decided short and sweet is better.

The reason people think there is a conflict between the concepts on either side of the "and" is

  • We've had a far less complete understanding of physical reality than we have now
  • Common sense and common knowledge lags behind physics by at least a century

A theory is useful to the degree that it has predictive power and the most useful physical theory to date is quantum mechanics. Yet quantum mechanics does not make exact predictions. Instead it makes statements of probability. Our experience, however, is only of specific states and therefore our common sense speaks only to specific states.

omniscience n all-encompassing knowledge: knowledge of all things, whether real or apparent knowledge

Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2002. © 1993-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Our common sense leads us to assume the nature of omniscience (which we do not, and likely will not ever, experience directly) is to have definitive knowledge of the singular, specific, past present and future state of all things. This, of course, conflicts with our experience of free will, which agrees with quantum mechanics in its assumption of the indeterminate nature of the future. Our direct experience is that the state of the future is determined by decisions made now. So it seems the choice is to give up the concept of omniscience, free will or take one or both as a matter of faith.

But suppose omniscience isn't the definitive knowledge of the singular, specific, past present and future state of all things. Suppose omniscience is perfect knowledge of all possibilities and the odds of, and means required for, the manifestation of each possibility. Suppose omniscience is the possession of all existing knowledge, all possible knowledge, rather than some state of knowledge that we, in our ignorance may imagine.

This allows the coexistence of omniscience and free will and doesn't actually change the definition of either term. It merely changes our understanding of them in light of the knowledge of physics we now possess. This level of knowledge would allow absolute control of all physical events through the application of extraordinarily little force. Omnipotence of a sort would be almost a side effect of omniscience.

omnipotence n all-powerfulness: the possession of complete, unlimited, or universal power and authority

Microsoft® Encarta® Reference Library 2002. © 1993-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

But the total definition of omnipotence is usually denied by such empty challenges as "can God make a stone so heavy He cannot lift it," not realizing the definition of omnipotence does not require its possessor (assuming there is one) to do anything more than possess all the power that exists, to be unsurpassable. The challenge, again, is one extrapolated from the ignorance known as "common knowledge."

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/3/2003 09:22:38 PM |

I'm already impressedScroll down a

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 3, 2003 - 8:40am.
on Old Site Archive

I'm already impressed

Scroll down a ways and you'll see me ranting about how great this rant at MYKERU.COM is. There's a comment by Cobb attached to that post which I don't actually believe is a useful suggestion. It is my general practice to visit the web sites of commenters when they leave an address, though, so I dropped by his blog.

I have to say I find the blog very thought provoking.

We have several similarities, Cobb and I. We're both working our blogs under a brand name but are very free with our real identity; we're not anonymous bloggers by any stretch. We both blog about pretty much everything, neither of us have a very stereotypical viewpoint but there's no question about whether either of us is Black. We both have static pages with some of our best analyses; right now I'm at the beginning of Black Identity in Cyberspace, and I see he, like I, found his voice most effective working in interactive mode. Things like this make me suspect he's been at it at least as long as I, as well as showing his distinctly different style.

If you find P6 interesting, I think you'll find Cobb equally so.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/3/2003 01:40:41 PM |

From the President of the African National Congress

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 3, 2003 - 8:10am.
on Africa
A hundred flowers under the African sun

…It seems to have happened that the African period during which the hundred flowers bloomed came to an end. The contending voices representing the hundred schools of thought fell silent.

This happened as Africa fell victim to a seemingly interminable succession of military coups d'etat. The promise of a people-driven process of African transformation turned into a nightmare of misrule by a rapacious elite.

These fellow Africans, acting in collusion with others outside our continent, destroyed what small economies we had, and contributed to the further impoverishment of the African masses that were already overburdened with intolerable poverty.

They supervised the destruction of the universities; worked for the regimentation of African thought; imprisoned, killed and drove into exile those among Africa's intellectuals who sought lasting African solutions to Africa's problems; and co-opted many who survived the tyrannical search-and-destroy campaigns of those among us who saw the purpose of the exercise of state power as self-enrichment.

In the end, a deadly silence fell on our continent, only broken by what could not be killed, the unwavering commitment of the peoples of Africa to the total liberation of our continent from colonialism and apartheid. Outside this, the only other voice that could be heard was the voice of orthodoxy.

So dependent did we become on foreign donors that we felt obliged to proclaim as loudly as we could, the messages, the words and phrases the donors needed to hear, so that they could approve official development assistance for the following year. And so we studied the textbooks and the manuals, to understand what the benefactors wanted of us.

Having memorised the words, we sought never to lose any opportunity to deliver our impeccable oratorical presentations of our prescribed texts, hopefully in the presence and languages of the benefactors.

The bright African sun that had caused a hundred flowers to bloom had set. In the night, the contending hundred schools of thought ceased to exist. It seemed that a dream of hope of an entire people had vanished in an African night without a moon and without even a dim light, a diminished sense of hope which the natural seasons of the bright African sun could not restore to life.

But what has happened tells us that the appearance, however long its duration, and dramatic in its essence and presentation, told a story about Africa that was not true. Once more, all around us, the hundred flowers have begun to bloom, again. Once more, the voices have started to contend. Africa is regaining the vigour and dynamism she needs, to address the compelling circumstances that surround her, to use the words of Suzanne Awenti. What happened in Sao Tome and Cape Town tell us that the African sun is shining once more.

We see these processes in our country as well. Gradually, a serious and difficult battle of ideas is being joined. It is serious and difficult because its outcome will determine the future of our country for a long period of time.

Its outcome will provide the answers about whether we will succeed or fail, in the struggle to build a South Africa defined by an entrenched democratic system and genuine popular participation, non-racism, non-sexism, prosperity for all, safety and security, national reconciliation, national unity and solidarity, the flowering of all our cultures and languages, the affirmation of our African identity, and the location of Africa among the rest of the continents as an equal partner with the rest. …

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/3/2003 01:10:46 PM |

Here's someone who is not Russell Simmons' friend

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 3, 2003 - 6:34am.
on Race and Identity

For my part, I say we should watch what Mr. Simmons does and promotes as a political agenda and back or reject each as individual gestures. But that's no different than I would treat any political creature. In any event, yes, it should be tabled for discussion.

Def Sham
Russell Simmons: New Black Leader?

By AMADI AJAMU

The emergence of Hip Hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons as an establishment-endorsed political leader of the new generation of Blacks gives me pause. Being a member of this new generation, I think this should be put on the table for discussion.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/3/2003 11:34:01 AM |

Notice anyone missing?

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 3, 2003 - 6:27am.
on Race and Identity
UN anti-racism committee set to open final 2003 session

1 August – The United Nations panel monitoring progress on worldwide efforts to prevent racism and racial discrimination is set to open its second substantive session of 2003 next week in Geneva.

The 18-member Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) – the first body created by the UN to review actions by States to fulfil obligations under a specific human rights agreement – will meet from 4 to 22 August to review national anti-discrimination efforts and discuss ways to prevent racial discrimination.

The Governments of Albania, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Czech Republic, Finland, Iran, Latvia, Norway, Republic of Korea, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the United Kingdom, are expected to send representatives to present reports on national efforts to give effect to their treaty obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. These countries are among the 169 States parties to the Convention, which took effect in 1969.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/3/2003 11:27:39 AM |

Okay, that was funnyBillmon examines

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 3, 2003 - 6:24am.
on Old Site Archive

Okay, that was funny

Billmon examines some pictures of what Saddam Hussein might look like today, and finds evidence that he's been right here in the USofA all along.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/3/2003 11:24:50 AM |

Possibly the best idea I

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 3, 2003 - 4:36am.
on Old Site Archive

Possibly the best idea I ever had

I am sooooo glad I put my library and Best Of links in a different web space than the main blog. They seem to be pretty popular, especially since the Reparations and Racism series were posted. Having just sweated running out of bandwidth last month I am not inclined to having to worry about that again.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/3/2003 09:36:33 AM |

The Black Commentator

Submitted by Prometheus 6 on August 3, 2003 - 1:54am.
on Africa | Race and Identity

The Black Commentator

The latest issue of The Black Commentator is up, and as harsh, direct and progressive as ever.

From "The Debate on Zimbabwe Will Not Be Throttled" (emphasis added):

George Bush doesn’t want you to talk about empowering the people of Africa – and neither do some African Americans. Issuing thinly veiled threats, these individuals and organizations appropriate to themselves the colors Red, Black and Green, and label as treasonous all Black criticism of their current Strong Man of choice, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

Espousing a twisted kind of Black “solidarity” that mirrors the “patriotism” of the white Right in the U.S., these groups claim that criticism of Mugabe gives aid and comfort to American and British schemes against the national independence of Zimbabwe. Since the Americans and British are always scheming to commit crimes against Africa, the threat to Black American critics of Mugabe and other African Strong Men is meant to be a permanent injunction. Under these terms, the time will never be right for progressives in the Diaspora to make common cause with the African people, if that involves strong critiques of specific African governments.

This crude gag rule was invoked in June against signatories to an Open Letter to President Robert Mugabe – men and women who rightfully claim “strong historical ties to the liberation movements in Zimbabwe, which included material and political support, as well as opposition to U.S. government policies that supported white minority rule.” The ongoing slanders against the signatories are designed to shut down African American discourse on the subject of African development and democracy, itself. This is absolutely unacceptable.

There are stooges of imperialism among the Zimbabwean opposition to Mugabe’s rule, including at the very top of the Movement for Democratic Change. That is to be expected. Mugabe’s war against civil society in Zimbabwe has succeeded in driving broad sections of his nation into a very small social space. Within that confined and crowded space, he brands all opponents as stooges. His supporters in the U.S seek to replicate those tactics in Black America, so that they can appear to be the true defenders of African liberation. Everyone else is warned to remain silent.

When a man says “Shut up,” you defeat him by refusing to do so. The best way to counter this ugly, thuggish and politically vacuous campaign against progressive Black Americans is to speak the Truth about all the parties in Zimbabwe. Our contribution to the debate revolves around five documents, listed and linked below. We invite readers to study the documents in depth.

Strong Man rule creates weak civil societies that are, ultimately, helpless to defend the nation against imperial power. Robert Mugabe has sought to strengthen his regime by weakening Zimbabwean civil society, thus making the nation more vulnerable to American and British subversion.

Black America is not Zimbabwe. This debate will not be throttled.

There are some initiatives that start in the more extreme areas of the Black communities that I won't even tell you about. I have seen some of the condemnations of those who signed that open letter, and knowing who signed it, it made my jaw drop. There are people who are so angry and anti-white that legitimate Black interests can become collateral damage in their campaigns. Being pro-Black I sometimes find myself in common cause with anti-white forces, but I'm careful to make it clear those times are coincidence.

There is much in this article that I agree with, much that I'd quote here except that to take it out of it's context reduced its power. One thing I will take out of context though, because it is as applicable here, in the USofA, as in Zimbabwe, is a single sentance:

Strong Man rule creates weak civil societies that are, ultimately, helpless to defend the nation against imperial power.

There is much in the issue that demands attention. The Black Comentator shares my opinion of the DLC.

The right wing of the Democratic Party is once again threatening to secede. Our fervent wish is that nobody tries to stop them.

Historically speaking, Charleston, South Carolina would have been a better locale for the Democratic Leadership Council’s secessionist-minded “National Conversation,” this week. Instead, the party’s corporate extortionists chose Philadelphia to make a stand for the American White Man, whose every idiocy must be accommodated lest the party fall into the hands of…you know who: them!

White men are terrified of them – which explains why the poor fellows get all confused and vote against their own interests every time it is imagined that they – “special interests,” Blacks, unions, and the dangerous people who call for health care, jobs, peace and justice – are about to intrude on the “national conversation.”

…That’s what the “national conversation” in Philadelphia was all about – what the despicable Evan Bayh (whose late Senator father, Birch Bayh, was a leading party liberal) means when he raises the specter of a takeover from the “far left.” The DLC is panicked over the candidacy of former Vermont Senator Howard Dean, now the top fundraiser in the primary race. But the forces they fear in the party are minorities, organized labor, women’s organizations, environmentalists and the peace movement.

This isn't the kind of language that will comfort those that are voting against their own interest, but The Black Commentator targets Black progressives and those frankly rare non-Blacks that can hear this without panicking just a little.

If this is sounding like an advertisement for The Black Commentator, good. The nature of weblogs is such that you can cover one thing deeply or many things broadly, and I've chosen the broad approach, obviously. The Black Commentator, like the best of the group blogs (which may or may not be the most popular) has a broad range of deep coverage, targeting an audience that is, shall we say, underserved by political editorialists in general.

posted by Prometheus 6 at 8/3/2003 06:54:46 AM |