No Sanctions for You! Come Back Six Months!

It is OK to deny your citizens religious freedom... as long as you are Saudi Arabia. This is downright ridiculous.

You Govern Like Billy Joel Drives

Even I think this is harsh. But pretty funny.

Its called karma, folks...

DeLay indicted, will step aside as majority leader

Priceless

Check this out. I laughed so hard I almost cried.

Richmond's Top 40 Under 40

Congratulations Aimee!

Style Weekly's Top 40 Under 40

Richmond’s successful young men and women who give back to the community.

Read Aimee's article here.

"Benator"?

This just in: Ben Affleck, who appears to be relocating to Charlottesville with expectant (and super fly, if I do say so myself) wife Jennifer Garner, is rumored to be considering a run at incumbent George Allen for his seat in the U.S. Senate. To wit:

"It's spread pretty widely, at least in the political underground," University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato, Virginia's premier pundit, told Michael Shear, The Post's Richmond correspondent.... Affleck spokesman Ken Sunshine said the rumors are baseless, though "he would be a superb candidate for public office in the future. Right now, he's very busy directing his first feature movie for Disney, 'Gone, Baby, Gone'.

This smells like a Schwarzenegger-like move on Affleck's part. He's widely acknowledged as a young, active liberal with charisma and money. Just what the Dems need, right?

"Sweatshops" & Corporate Ethics

We had a discussion in one of my classes today about corporate ethics. At issue was American corporations use of “sweatshops”—categorized by poor working conditions, long hours, low wages, and the use of child labor factories in developing countries. The discussion centered on the question of whether this was an ethical and/or socially responsible practice. My professor and several of my classmates made the point that even though workers in sweatshops may not be treated/paid to the same standards of American workers, they are still better off than many of their countrymen. In other words, some wages are better than no wages. If the factories weren’t there, the people would be unemployed, starving, and living in poverty. My professor also made the point that the cultures of many developing countries value money differently. He surmised that people in these countries may not care about having a lot of money (and the goods/privileges that come with it) and therefore don’t mind low wages. According to him, they are just happy to have a job.

To me, that’s a cop-out and a way to justify the exploitation of poor people in developing countries. Even if corporations are supplying jobs to people who would otherwise be unemployed, it does not justify paying them slave wages and forcing them to work in deplorable and unsafe conditions. It’s taking advantage of their plight. To say that the people are better off to have jobs is merely an attempt to skirt the issue and rationalize an otherwise disgusting practice.

Plus, I’m sure the decision to place factories in developing countries has nothing to do with bringing jobs to poor countries. It’s all about lowering labor costs and increasing revenues.

What do you think? Is it a question of corporate ethics and social responsibility? Or should corporations stay out of the ethics business and just focus on the bottom line?

Rita, You BITCH!

Is anyone else sick of hurricane season yet? Rita is on her way, and she looks like she could become one baaaad mama-jamma. Am I out of line for asking the question, given the last decade of hurricane activity in Florida and the Gulf Coast, why would ANYONE sink their life's savings into beachfront property? I know we have some OBX property owners, so I don't mean to sound preachy... help me out, Schmoliticians.

Mayor Nagin is a jackass

Having seen Mayor Nagin numerous times on the news, I can say with little reservation that I have never seen a public official as inept as the Mayor of New Orleans.  His call to repopulate the city http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/19/katrina.impact/index.html , even after the strong warnings against such action from the governor, FEMA, and Bush, not only endangers the citizens of New Orleans, it will undoubtedly impede the progress of securing the city.  Even in the face of a possible follow up hurricane, Nagin refuses to revoke his invitation to return to the city.  How can Nagin point fingers at FEMA and the administration for their lack of response and leadership with one hand, while giving them the finger with the other hand for what appears to be a prudent suggestion to minimize the civilian presence in New Orleans?

Frank Rich's latest column

Here is a link to Frank Rich's Sunday column. I love this guy!

Okay, Schmoliticians, what do you think?

In case he bugs you too much, and you were unable to watch his speech last night, the president not only admitted responsibility in the federal government's slow response to the disaster in the Gulf, he admitted that it brought up many difficult issues: racism, poverty, the inability of the government to effectively respond to a national crisis. He also mentioned several initiatives he is proposing to help improve these problems. So, what do you think?

National Day of What?

Since when have we had national days of prayer? I get the whole "thinking about and remembering those who perished in Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath." So, why don't we call it a National Day of Remembrance and just let people pray if that's how they want to remember the dead? National Day of Prayer just makes me squirm.

Intelligent Design is Delicious

The first credible Intelligent Design theory I've seen. With excellent graphs and testimonials, to boot.

Looks like they found another JC Watts.

Only this one was a wide receiver.

I'm Just Sayin'...

I'm not sure anyone is paying attention. The Roberts Family is: John, Jane, Jack, and Josie. I'm not sure what this means, but I thought I should put it out there.

FEMA Director Resigns

Scapegoat, errr story, is here. Another scarificial lamb?

Free Texas!

Just another example of repression from the Politburo...er...Bush Admin & friends. Where's Lech Walesa when you need him?

Question for Conservatives.

Recently the California legislature passed a law allowing gay marriage in California. This follows on the heels of one of California's ubiquitous Propositions wherein marriage was defined as being between a man and a woman. This Prop has been legally challenged and is in the courts.

However, Gov. Arnold has announced he will veto this law. He has said he wants to both 1) wait until the courts decide the Prop question, and 2) wants to let the people decide, i.e. either he's relying on the challenged Prop or wants a new Prop or other popular vote California constitutional amendment.

However, when courts have found that a ban on gay marriage is in violation of their state's constitution (most prominent example is Massachusetts), many of my conservative friends said the proper way to decide this question was in the state legislature, as the true voice of the people. Federalism, states' rights, and separation of powers demanded that such a decision come from the legislature and not from elsewhere, according to them.

My question is this: is the Governor's rationale for his veto valid, in your eyes? I concede that a veto still lies within the legislative process, so that measure, in and of itself, does not fly in the face of states' rights/federalism/Republican traditional anti-gay marriage governmental reasoning. But do you agree with the Governor RATIONALE, i.e., waiting for the courts or stopping the legislature in favor of a ballot initiative as being somehow MORE legitimite on this question.

Things are never so bad that your friends can't prosper from them!

Just in case you thought the Bush Administration would miss an opportunity to enrich their friends on the sorrow and tragedy of others, silly you.

25 Mind-Numbingly Stupid Quotes About Hurricane Katrina

Read it here. Most incredible to me:

"Last night, we showed you the full force of a superpower government going to the rescue." –MSNBC's Chris Matthews, Sept. 1, 2005

Matthews is not only a fat, arrogant, self-righteous excuse for a journalist... he's also an idiot.

ACLU Goes After Prostitutes?

There's apparently a loophole in Rhode Island law that makes it "not illegal" for prostitutes to ply their, uh, craft indoors. They can't loiter on street corners and solicit, but they can sell their services blocks from the state house steps.

For me, the interesting part is not the loohole in R.I. statutes, but the seeming inclination of the state ACLU chapter to go after prostitution vis a vis this issue. To wit:

Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said he doesn't understand why Providence police believe prostitution is decriminalized when there are three felony statutes in Rhode Island that ban it. "The current laws on the books have real teeth in them and are available for use right now," Brown said.

I would have guessed that the ACLU would have been fairly loathe to wade into this area, since it's arguably an area of human behavior in which sexual/moral/legal "crusaderism" is strongly represented. Maybe I'm over-reading Brown's comment on the issue?

And the hits just keep on coming...

When I first saw this headline (and the following story) in today's Post, I thought I must have misread it. With all that's happened in the last couple of weeks, I was sure I had seen it all from our government. I stand corrected.

"Bush Suspends Pay Act In Areas Hit by Storm"

If I wasn't before, I am now officially embarassed to call myself an American.

What's wrong with this picture?

Here is a link to an article from the Salt Lake Tribune describing how trained firefighters being deployed to Louisiana are being used as FEMA Community relations representatives, handing out fliers with FEMA's phone number on it. Now, I'm not going to pretend like I'm some kind of "disaster expert", but it seems to me there might be a better way to use these guys' skills. Maybe?

Insensitivity or Ignorance? You make the call.

Monday, former Presidents Bush and Clinton visited the Astrodome. Unfortunately, President Bush decided to bring his wife. After meeting with the some of the evacuees, she commented, "What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them." I actually heard the soundbite this morning, and I can attest that she actually chuckled slightly as she finished the sentence. Either she is completely unaware of the ordeals these people have endured; the family, possessions, jobs that they have lost. Or, she is pretty cold. Either way - Yikes, Barbara!

World opinion, sort of.

I just thought I'd post this article from Reuters concerning World opinion, anecdotal opinion at least, about the disaster in the Gulf states to see if I could actually hear Ryan's head explode from my apartment 10 blocks away from his office. Listen closely everyone!

What the hell?

Is anyone else watching what is going on in New Orleans and asking what on earth is taking so long to help these people? Where are the troops we keep hearing are going to arrive? Why is it five days later, and hundreds of people are dying waiting for aid? And, by aid, I mean food and water! Its shameful!

And, then my sister-in-law sent an email criticizing the people who didn't evacuate. But, if you don't have a car, or any money, I would imagine it would be a little challenging to evacuate. Or, if you're hospitalized on a ventilator. Or if you're really old, and in a nursing home. That's nice - blame the victims for their lack of resources.

Guess Nawlins' votes Democratic...

Here's what Speaker Hastert has to say. If only it was a brain-dead Florida woman underwater...

Hawaii Caps Wholesale Gas Prices

They believe -- erroneously methinks -- that this action will help tame prices at the pump. California is considering following suit. Do our economically-minded Schmoliticians know if this is a similar governmental pattern to what happened in the Carter years, and which led to widespread inflation and gas shortages?

For the record, I paid $2.89/gallon in the middle of nowhere, Virginia today. Gas prices are hurting people like me, who drive often / long distances.