File Under "Good 'Ol Military Training"

It appears the boys at VMI could stand a little sensitivity training after their latest controversy.

W&M Cutting Edge?

Anyone have a problem with this?

The University of Richmond has required this for law students for the past few years.

De Niro: No Longer Brilliant?

I know we have some De Niro fans in our ranks, so I put it to you all: has De Niro undermined his stellar acting career with recent turkey roles in turkey movies? There's an interesting piece here about it.

Politics Schmolitics

Politics Schmolitics

Bush to Overhaul Civil Service Starting with DHS

Wow, this is huge news for federal government workers. Tom Ridge, retiring Secretary of Homeland Security, announced yesterday that the long-established, nigh-sacred and untouchable Civil Service system is being dismantled at DHS in favor of performance-based compensation plans, HR management that more closely resembles that of private industry, and hefty limits to collective bargaining and the ability of the unions' to force CB situations with the Department.

The article from Federal Computer Week can be found here.

My guess is this is a harbinger of things to come -- starting with Social Security, continuing on with the federal government workforce, and ending with perhaps the privatization of national parks and interstate highways -- the Bush Administration is slowly and surely re-making the federal government and its programs in its own image. Is it a conservative/small-government image? No, not exactly. It's the status quo with privatization tweaks.

Despite myself, I think it may not be a bad idea what they're proposing to do with DHS. My aunt and uncle, both lifelong civil servants, I'm sure would vehemently (and rightly, from their perspective) disagree.

India Goes to the Moon?

Shamelessly cribbed from today's Fark:

India plans two moon missions. First will map lunar terrain, second will establish call center... bah dum BAH!

Google indexes your momma

Well, not quite.

But it just started indexing television.

http://video.google.com

It indexes and archives the closed captioning feed.

Bush's Record Deficit: File Under "Fiscal Conservatism"?

"Before the invasion, then-White House budget director Mitch Daniels predicted Iraq would be 'an affordable endeavour' and Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz assured Congress: 'We are dealing with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction and relatively soon.'" - Bloomberg News

"The extra spending in Iraq is adding to a U.S. budget deficit that the president has vowed to cut by half in the next four years. The federal budget deficit reached a record $412 billion last year and is projected by the Bush administration to reach $427 billion this fiscal year, a record shortfall and $59 billion more than estimated by the Congressional Budget Office." - Reuters

"By pushing war spending beyond $300 billion, the latest proposal would approach nearly half the $613 billion the United States spent for World War I or the $623 billion it expended for the Vietnam War, when the costs of those conflicts are translated into 2005 dollars." - Assciated Press

Quick question: was W a failed businessman for any particular reason? Like, oh I don't know... perhaps... because he didn't realize it's not smart to spend more than you have? Is this an overly-sophisticated concept?

The "Bush Doctrine"

Interesting article in the Post this morning regarding the uncompromising attitude espoused by the Bush administration towards the rest of the world. Here are some highlights:

"For all the talk of fresh diplomacy and rebuilding frayed alliances, Bush heads into his second term still demanding that the rest of the world meet him on his terms -- and now he has redefined those terms to an even more provocative degree with an inaugural address articulating a grand vision for spreading democracy and "ending tyranny" in "every nation." With his eye on history, Bush wants to change the world. The rest of the world is not necessarily so eager to be changed."

"... the inaugural speech reflected a worldview dramatically at odds with that in many parts of Europe and the Middle East, where it has only confirmed the image of Bush as an American unilateralist pursuing his own agenda with messianic fervor."

"Yet many Democrats, as well as Republicans from the traditional school of U.S. foreign policy, see Bush heading down a treacherous road that will further unravel a half-century of international relationships. The rupture over Iraq, they fear, may presage a widening divide with the rest of the world over the next four years."

"Bush presents everything in very black-and-white moralistic terms," Holwill said, "and I truly hope that we get a more sophisticated approach to the war against the Salafists," or Islamic radicals, "because they are gaining ground on the Arab street."

And perhaps most telling:

"A survey of nearly 22,000 people in 21 countries by the BBC World Service last week found that 47 percent see U.S. influence in the world today as largely negative and 58 percent believe Bush's reelection will make the world more dangerous."

Here's the link to the story if you'd like to read the whole thing:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29413-2005Jan22.html

A Sponge by any other name...

Amongst this talk of Iraqi insurgency and racist Senators, I think we are missing a far, far greater threat to our country--a threat to the very ideals that built this great democracy. A threat to common decency, family values, national security... a threat so vile, so disgusting that it pains me to even type these words--SpongeBob SquarePants. If left unchecked, this scourge, this blight on the ass of humanity, will lead to the corruption of our children and the moral collapse of our nation. For those of you who don't know, SpongeBob has committed the heinous act of appearing in a music video promoting tolerance (along with Big Bird and Clifford, btw.) But not just tolerance of that cute little Asian boy, or the adorable African-American baby. No, we can handle that... this was tolerance of homosexuals.

In all seriousness, can we all agree that the real enemies of freedom and liberty in this country are the ultra-fundamental, ultra-judgmental, ultra-intolerant Christian extremists like James Dobson's Focus on the Family group? I mean, c'mon. SpongeBob?!? What bothers me more was something I heard on NPR the morning of the inauguration. A conservative Christian group, it might even have been Focus on the Family, was having a prayer breakfast before heading off to the parade. Before eating, they had a blessing in which the group's leader thanked God for letting the people of the United States choose Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior by electing George Bush. Now, I know that these guys don't speak for all Christians or for all evangelicals. But, they sure as hell speak for a lot of people. And their attitude really bothers me. This view that we elected Jesus as the Lord of the U.S.? I don't remember seeing His name on the ballot, quite frankly. Why, oh why, has religion become so intertwined with politics these days? Personally, I was offended by all the "God bless" this and that during the inauguration. And, I'm Catholic. I couldn't even imagine what it must have been like for a Muslim, a Hindu, or an atheist. This is the government that is supposed to represent us all? I acknowledge that the Founders instilled a certain measure of Judeo-Christian ethics into the Constitution, but they also made the state a secular entity.

Anyway, there's no real point to my rant. I'm just PO'd is all. Now back to your regularly scheduled program of partisan sniping.

another pass for the Dems

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Senator Robert Byrd (D-WVa.) will delay the Senate's confirmation of Dr. Condoleezza Rice for Secretary of State.

As everyone knows, once confirmed, she will be the first black female Secretary of State.

If you haven’t noticed, nobody’s bothering to report that Byrd has a history of racism. Why do the Dems always get a pass on their most colorful ‘reformed’ Ku Klux Klansman? It cost Trent Lott his role as Majority Leader when he merely pandered to an old man with the same racist history as Byrd. Yet, Byrd is setting real roadblocks to delay the appointment of a minority, not to mention depriving the nation of a well qualified Secretary of State.

This is the same guy who, during his filibuster of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, expressed his opposition to racial integration in the military with:
"I should rather die a thousand times and see old glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again than see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen of the wilds."

And as recently as 2001, Byrd commented in a televised interview:“There are white n****rs. I’ve seen a lot of n****rs in my time. I’m going to use that word"

An Inaugural Address

Did yesterday's inaugural address -- which was mightily short on specifics, used the words 'liberty' and 'freedom' a combined 43 times, never mentioned the word 'terror', and focused on defeating 'tyranny' -- hint at a second Bush term in which the target of the Administration's democritization efforts are repressive regimes like North Korea and Iran?

Will the White House be taking on Putin in Moscow or the communist leadership of China anytime soon?

Or was yesterday's address meant to indirectly bolster support for (or distract from) an increasingly bloody, open-ended, and inconclusive Iraqi occupation?

Discuss.

Iraqi Insurgency

Maybe it's just me, but I haven't heard many Iraqis speaking out against the insurgent attacks--until yesterday. This quote was featured in the Post in an article about one of Wednesday's car bombings in Baghdad.

"What kind of crazy people do attacks in the middle of two hospitals, one of them with women and new babies? What kind of jihad is this? Is it jihad against women and babies?"

It's from a woman who works in one of the two hospitals hit by blasts yesterday. Maybe the Iraqi people have been afraid to speak out before, but I have to think that they are tired/scared/frustrated/fed up with these insurgents who are continuing to kill their fellow countrymen on a daily basis, all in the name of Iraqi nationalism. Of course, I was horrified (as always) to read about the attacks, but a little relieved to hear that there are Iraqis finally beginning to speak out against the insurgency. (Granted, Iraqis willing to talk to Western journalists probably aren't generally representative of the public at large, but it's a start.)

Here's a question--is the insurgency just a cover for a Sunni/Shiite civil war? Are the insurgents really trying to disrupt the elections/US-led occupation, or is it an excuse to attack centuries-old enemies?

Democracy and the Internet

As part of the reading for my Political Science class, I came across two viewpoints concerning the role/effect of the Internet on democratic self-government that I thought would be interesting material for our discussion.

View 1:
"As a result of the distorted view created by the economics of a for-profit media system (as propogated by the Internet), people hold irrational opinions and are therefore incapable of self-government. By divorcing itself from physical reality (by immersing iteslf in the virtual world of the Internet) and relying on distorted media images, society may be losing the ability to construct an accurate picture of the world, which trivializes any effort by its members at meaningful self-government. Members of modern democratic society may be unable to create an accurate picture of reality in their minds because the picture itself has become incomprehensible (due to the glut of contradictory and questionable information provided by the Internet.)"

View 2:
"Internet spaces offer great democratic potential for citizens to come together in the deliberative process to build communities and self-govern. Citizens should find it easier to stay informed in order to make high-quality decisions that democratic self-government requires. Virtual spaces perform an important function by allowing opinions to circulate in society."

This kind of feeds into a question posed by my professor at the end of our first class--is the Internet, on the whole, a good thing for society; or do the costs outweigh any possible benefits?

Any thoughts?

Nonlawyers

The Virginia General Assembly is considering a bill that would amend the code of Virginia to expand the ability of a nonlawyer to represent a closely held corporation (read: family business) in court. (the text is at the bottom)

Since we have representation of lawyers and small business on this panel, I thought I'd seek your thoughts.

D. A nonlawyer appearing on behalf of a closely held corporation may file a bill of particulars or grounds of defense; argue motions; file or interrogate at debtor interrogatories; or file, issue or argue any other paper, pleading or proceeding not set forth in subsection A that may be filed, issued or argued by a lawyer. For purposes of this section, "closely held corporation" means a corporation whose shares are held by no more than five shareholders who are active in the corporation's operation and management.

Kid Rock dumped from inauguration

The Bush Administration has flip-flopped and dumped Kid Rock from its inauguration youth concert. It's too bad. I think it'd be great to see cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon scattered across the inaugural platform...

A little public shaming

These invited "team members" still haven't responded to their invitations to join the blog:

Clay Garrett
Jeff Fox
Karin Talbert
John Antonacci
Jeff Schroeder
Dave Miscia
Pete McNulty
Ryan Jenness
Johanna Steele
Adam Steele

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Introducing "Politics Schmolitics"

This is the inaugural post on "Politics Schmolitics", and, as such, deserves to introduce "the players". Each bring his or her own special political axes to grind. Many of them are highly educated, successful, and bull-headed. Most went to The College of William & Mary. A few have been to jail. One of them in particular is full of opinions: Pete. I mean Ryan. No, Dave. Todd too. Oh, and Clay. Did I metion Aimee? Yeesh. What a bunch:

1. On the Right...
   
   • Ryan
     
   • Randy (AKA "Mary Matlin")
     
   • Clay
     
   • Todd (AKA "Budlong")
     
2. In the Middle...
   
   • John (AKA "Anton")
     
   • Dave
     
   • Jeff (AKA "Fox")
     
3. On the Left...
   
   • Pete
     
   • Rob (AKA "Harris")
     
   • Sean
     
   • Aimee (AKA "James Carville")
     
   • Karin
   • Shanan