Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Burris In, Franken In Limbo
Well that didn't take long- sounds like as soon as Burris gets his paperwork in order, Senate Dems will most likely seat him. Al Franken, on the other hand remains up in the air pending the resolution of court challenges by the Coleman Campaign.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
A Happier Happy Hour
Happy Hour will survive in Iowa City- at least for now!
Look, limiting bars, drink specials and even happy hour isn't going to solve the drinking problem. Mankato tried it- and will probably still continue to try it and it did precisely nothing to stem binge drinking deaths.
Diversifying and developing downtown is the solution however. The City Council has laid down on the job, quite frankly and let local business people be priced out of downtown by big city developers that want to bring a 'big city vibe' to downtown Iowa City that is completely out of touch with the needs of the community. The Northside Neighborhood around Linn Street and Dirty John's is worth developing and expanding a little more so that it can become its own, distinct shopping and eating district- if similar venture could be developed on the South Side of Downtown you would see a wider variety of options and businesses that could thrive and change the character of downtown.
We also badly need a movie theater downtown- in fact, a dollar theater would be an excellent addition to downtown, especially if University and City Officials are serious at providing alcohol-free alternatives to students downtown.
Happily, however, the City Council has backed off yet another half-assed solution to the problem they've never been able to solve!
Look, limiting bars, drink specials and even happy hour isn't going to solve the drinking problem. Mankato tried it- and will probably still continue to try it and it did precisely nothing to stem binge drinking deaths.
Diversifying and developing downtown is the solution however. The City Council has laid down on the job, quite frankly and let local business people be priced out of downtown by big city developers that want to bring a 'big city vibe' to downtown Iowa City that is completely out of touch with the needs of the community. The Northside Neighborhood around Linn Street and Dirty John's is worth developing and expanding a little more so that it can become its own, distinct shopping and eating district- if similar venture could be developed on the South Side of Downtown you would see a wider variety of options and businesses that could thrive and change the character of downtown.
We also badly need a movie theater downtown- in fact, a dollar theater would be an excellent addition to downtown, especially if University and City Officials are serious at providing alcohol-free alternatives to students downtown.
Happily, however, the City Council has backed off yet another half-assed solution to the problem they've never been able to solve!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Panetta to CIA
Obama picked former Clinton Deputy Chief of Staff Leon Panetta to head the CIA. Not sure if I like this- Panetta has no intelligence experience whatsoever and is yet another mouldy Clintonite. I acknowledge that a certain amount of cherry-picking from past Democratic Administrations is going to be inevitable- but I would have thought that he would want someone with just a touch more experience in the world of intelligence. Lord knows we need wholesale reform of those institutions and people who know their way around might be able to do that better than pure outsiders.
Just sayin.'
Just sayin.'
Tamil Noose Tightens
The Sri Lankan Army is continuing to advance on all fronts after the fall of the Tamil Rebel Capitol Kilinochchi last week- reports have them closing in on the Elephant Pass, which is the key bottleneck point on the Northern Jaffna peninsula. Should the pass fall, the Tamil Tigers would be left with only one operational base at Mullaitivu.
News from Gaza
Israel has followed air strikes up with a ground offensive and casualties are starting to mount- with at least 90 people, including 26 children having been killed since the ground assault began. By all accounts the humanitarian situation is going from bad to worse and supply lines for the civilians are getting increasingly stretched as medical facilities in the Strip are being overtaxed.
I can't say that I like civilians getting killed in large numbers, but at least the Israelis actually worry about that kind of thing before they fire off a bomb- I saw a figure quoted in the media as saying that Hamas had fired something like 8,000 rockets into Southern Israel- not giving a damn whether they landed on military targets or civilians ones. A palpable difference between the two sides, I think- plus, before people starting jumping up and down on Israel, let's all stop and think a minute: if someone dropped 8,000 rockets on the United States, what would we do? I think everyone know we would be PISSED OFF and BOMB something- because, like or not, that's just how we roll here in the United States- and I'm not going to piss all over Israel for doing essentially exactly what we'd do in the same situation.
As for the whole Hamas, Israel, Palestine mess- I like Joe Biden's take on it all:
That seems reasonable enough to me- after Hamas decided to contest the Palestinian elections, you knew this was going to be a choice they would have to make. Legitimacy amongst Palestinians had been won because unlike Fatah, they didn't pocket international aid for themselves, but gave it to the people. That's how they got support- but contesting the elections, they had to translate that support into democratic legitimacy and they failed. Miserably. And the people of Gaza are paying the price for their failure.
I can't say that I like civilians getting killed in large numbers, but at least the Israelis actually worry about that kind of thing before they fire off a bomb- I saw a figure quoted in the media as saying that Hamas had fired something like 8,000 rockets into Southern Israel- not giving a damn whether they landed on military targets or civilians ones. A palpable difference between the two sides, I think- plus, before people starting jumping up and down on Israel, let's all stop and think a minute: if someone dropped 8,000 rockets on the United States, what would we do? I think everyone know we would be PISSED OFF and BOMB something- because, like or not, that's just how we roll here in the United States- and I'm not going to piss all over Israel for doing essentially exactly what we'd do in the same situation.
As for the whole Hamas, Israel, Palestine mess- I like Joe Biden's take on it all:
“Israel cannot be expected to negotiate with a party that calls for its destruction, engages in terrorism and maintains an armed militia. Hamas must choose: bullets or ballots.” (January 2006)
That seems reasonable enough to me- after Hamas decided to contest the Palestinian elections, you knew this was going to be a choice they would have to make. Legitimacy amongst Palestinians had been won because unlike Fatah, they didn't pocket international aid for themselves, but gave it to the people. That's how they got support- but contesting the elections, they had to translate that support into democratic legitimacy and they failed. Miserably. And the people of Gaza are paying the price for their failure.
Feel the Illinoise!
Senator-Designate Roland Burris should be in Washington D.C. right now- I can't find anything on whether or not anyone cares about that or is even bothering to talk to him.
My take on this whole sticky situation is this: it's complicated. The whole debate over Burris is one of those debates where both sides have equally valid points- and they do and the guy is qualified and the United States Senate, while not as ghastly and reactionary as say the House of Lords in Britain is badly in need of some modernization (little less country club, little more legislative body, please?) but the fact remains that yes, Blagojevich is still Governor having not yet been impeached- thus having the power to make appointments and yes, the Senate can (and probably will) drag its feet on whether or not to seat Burris at all and they seemingly have the right to do that as well.
Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush seemed to want to make this a racial thing- pointing out that the Senate wouldn't and shouldn't refuse to seat a qualified African-American in a legislative body that has had an horrifically bad record at seating (or electing) minorities of any kind to begin with, but I think things have changed ever so slightly now. As a commentator (Clarence Page) on NPR pointed out this afternoon, Senator Obama didn't just vanished into nothing, he's going to be President- which means that trying to force white guilt into the debate might not just be as effective as Congressmen Rush would like.
In the end: if the Illinois State Legislature would have passed a law mandating a special election, we wouldn't be in this mess. If you want to blame someone, blame them.
My take on this whole sticky situation is this: it's complicated. The whole debate over Burris is one of those debates where both sides have equally valid points- and they do and the guy is qualified and the United States Senate, while not as ghastly and reactionary as say the House of Lords in Britain is badly in need of some modernization (little less country club, little more legislative body, please?) but the fact remains that yes, Blagojevich is still Governor having not yet been impeached- thus having the power to make appointments and yes, the Senate can (and probably will) drag its feet on whether or not to seat Burris at all and they seemingly have the right to do that as well.
Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush seemed to want to make this a racial thing- pointing out that the Senate wouldn't and shouldn't refuse to seat a qualified African-American in a legislative body that has had an horrifically bad record at seating (or electing) minorities of any kind to begin with, but I think things have changed ever so slightly now. As a commentator (Clarence Page) on NPR pointed out this afternoon, Senator Obama didn't just vanished into nothing, he's going to be President- which means that trying to force white guilt into the debate might not just be as effective as Congressmen Rush would like.
In the end: if the Illinois State Legislature would have passed a law mandating a special election, we wouldn't be in this mess. If you want to blame someone, blame them.
The Senat-ah from Minnesot-ah!
It's Franken. But people are already crying foul and raising a kerfuffle, so this could take awhile- but in the end, it's still going to be Franken, I'd imagine. He's better than Coleman, but that it's saying much.
And it's no skin off my nose at all. I voted for Barkley.
And it's no skin off my nose at all. I voted for Barkley.
Column #1: Far From Nobility
Editor's Note: This is (hopefully) going to become a regular feature here on the blog- once a week, a slightly longer piece devoted to whatever topic happens to interest me at the time. It's one of the many changes (hopefully good ones) you should start noticing around here as we start 2009 in earnest.
With the fall of the town of Kilinochi to the Sri Lankan Army this past week, the world’s eyes briefly turned once again to a forgotten conflict in South Asia- the long running, intractable and interminable Civil War between the Sinhalese majority on Sri Lanka and the Tamil Minority, with active resistance being spear-headed by the LTTE- or the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam- the Tamil Tigers as they are more commonly known.
It seems that, at least in the short term, the Tigers are on the defensive and will likely be pushed into the hills and be confined to low-level terrorist attacks, I would imagine before the end of this year. At their height, they controlled a good chunk of Northern Sri Lanka, but the government has been steadily advancing and pushing them out of cities and towns again and again.
This fall of Kilinochi, the de facto capitol of the Tigers was given wide coverage on the BBC and in many foreign news outlets- but once again, the American media fell short in their coverage of the basic events of the world.
The conflict between the Sinhalese and the Tamils is deeply entrenched in the Island’s politics and history. In his book Blowback, Neil DaVotta describes Sri Lanka as being caught in a process known as ethnic outbidding- meaning that Sinhalese political parties seek to ‘out bid’ each other for the favor of the Sinhalese nationalist movement- which is a key constituency on the island that can- and does swing elections. The first rule of politics being that of survival, no Sinhalese leaders have proven willing- or had the stature to take on the Nationalists and push for a just and lasting resolution to the conflict.
And here’s the rub: in the post 9-11 world- should they? The Tigers are, after all, a terrorist organization. Hours after the fall of Kilinochchi, they launched a suicide attack on the headquarters of the Sri Lankan Air Force. They actively resisted Indian intervention in the conflict in the late 80s- and it was a Tamil suicide bomber who was responsible for the death of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1992.
Despite this, the Tamil minority itself does have real complaints. Their language, their culture- their basic rights have been under attack by the Sinhalese majority for decades now. Does this justify terrorism? No- but if this conflict is ever to end, it would require, if not engagement by the United States, then certainly a greater degree of awareness.
But, it seems that with the fall of Kilinochi, this conflict will most likely be settled on terms more favorable to the Sinhalese than to the Tamils. In this we can draw parallels to the conflict on Cyprus: the worst thing to happen to Turkish Cypriots since 1974 was the entry of Cyprus into the EU without a comprehensive peace agreement- because now, Greek Cypriots hold a veto over the entry of Turkey to the EU- and they can and probably will demand some forced settlement to the issue of Northern Cyprus as a price for Turkish entry to the EU- should, of course, another country such as France or Germany not veto that notion as well.
In Sri Lanka, the increasing military disparity between the government and the Tigers means that the Tamils have less and less leverage over the government as the Tigers lose ground- so if there is to be a solution, it seems likely, barring a change in the strategic situation on the ground to be imposed upon the minority instead of negotiated.
With another rebel stronghold lost and government forces advancing, Tamil opposition lawmaker Mano Ganesan was quoted as saying: “The noble need of the hour is an honest political solution. But it looks that we are far away from nobility.” And with the Civil War running increasingly in the government’s favor, a solution imposed by the military victors of this conflict will neither be noble, just or ultimately effective.
With the fall of the town of Kilinochi to the Sri Lankan Army this past week, the world’s eyes briefly turned once again to a forgotten conflict in South Asia- the long running, intractable and interminable Civil War between the Sinhalese majority on Sri Lanka and the Tamil Minority, with active resistance being spear-headed by the LTTE- or the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam- the Tamil Tigers as they are more commonly known.
It seems that, at least in the short term, the Tigers are on the defensive and will likely be pushed into the hills and be confined to low-level terrorist attacks, I would imagine before the end of this year. At their height, they controlled a good chunk of Northern Sri Lanka, but the government has been steadily advancing and pushing them out of cities and towns again and again.
This fall of Kilinochi, the de facto capitol of the Tigers was given wide coverage on the BBC and in many foreign news outlets- but once again, the American media fell short in their coverage of the basic events of the world.
The conflict between the Sinhalese and the Tamils is deeply entrenched in the Island’s politics and history. In his book Blowback, Neil DaVotta describes Sri Lanka as being caught in a process known as ethnic outbidding- meaning that Sinhalese political parties seek to ‘out bid’ each other for the favor of the Sinhalese nationalist movement- which is a key constituency on the island that can- and does swing elections. The first rule of politics being that of survival, no Sinhalese leaders have proven willing- or had the stature to take on the Nationalists and push for a just and lasting resolution to the conflict.
And here’s the rub: in the post 9-11 world- should they? The Tigers are, after all, a terrorist organization. Hours after the fall of Kilinochchi, they launched a suicide attack on the headquarters of the Sri Lankan Air Force. They actively resisted Indian intervention in the conflict in the late 80s- and it was a Tamil suicide bomber who was responsible for the death of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1992.
Despite this, the Tamil minority itself does have real complaints. Their language, their culture- their basic rights have been under attack by the Sinhalese majority for decades now. Does this justify terrorism? No- but if this conflict is ever to end, it would require, if not engagement by the United States, then certainly a greater degree of awareness.
But, it seems that with the fall of Kilinochi, this conflict will most likely be settled on terms more favorable to the Sinhalese than to the Tamils. In this we can draw parallels to the conflict on Cyprus: the worst thing to happen to Turkish Cypriots since 1974 was the entry of Cyprus into the EU without a comprehensive peace agreement- because now, Greek Cypriots hold a veto over the entry of Turkey to the EU- and they can and probably will demand some forced settlement to the issue of Northern Cyprus as a price for Turkish entry to the EU- should, of course, another country such as France or Germany not veto that notion as well.
In Sri Lanka, the increasing military disparity between the government and the Tigers means that the Tamils have less and less leverage over the government as the Tigers lose ground- so if there is to be a solution, it seems likely, barring a change in the strategic situation on the ground to be imposed upon the minority instead of negotiated.
With another rebel stronghold lost and government forces advancing, Tamil opposition lawmaker Mano Ganesan was quoted as saying: “The noble need of the hour is an honest political solution. But it looks that we are far away from nobility.” And with the Civil War running increasingly in the government’s favor, a solution imposed by the military victors of this conflict will neither be noble, just or ultimately effective.
Friday, January 2, 2009
New Year's Resolutions!
Well, I'm back for 2009- we're going to be re-arranging the blog a bit and hopefully upping the content so there are more pictures, videos and just better content in general to look at. I know it's not much of a blog, but I'd like to build it into something that people actually want to check out every day.
But Allison and I (along with Moxie, Sampson, Sophie and Hawkeye) are officially back in Iowa City. When I left, I was eager to get away- and everything was too familiar and too stale for me to appreciate it. Now that I'm back, it turns out that Allison was very correct- I do see things with new eyes- and I appreciate everything that this incredible community has done for me over the years and want to (in the coming year) figure out a way to give back to the community somehow. (First of course, there is the small matter of acquiring a job and a place to live other than my parents' house.)
But in the spirit of the New Year, I thought I'd type out 10 Resolutions that I'm going to do my utmost to meet in the coming year:
1. Lose weight. When I moved to Mankato, I was fit, trim and hovering around the 190 mark- now, as of thirty seconds ago I was at about 234. I'd like to get down to 200 at minimum and maybe that 190-195 range at best. But for sure, this is the year I lose the Mankato weight.
2. Cook. I have this thought going through my head that I would like to, someday, maybe open a bar/restaurant- and to do that, I want to see just how good at cooking I really am- whether I'm just really good or whether or not I'm 'restaurant' good. Stay tuned- because I plan to share the results of my experiments right here on the blog.
3. Finish the MA: It's essentially down to the last dregs, but it has to be done. I have maybe .25 of a thesis to finish and defend by May and that's that with the whole school thing for awhile.
4. Blog: I think, thus far I have established the fact that I can blog- now I just want to be better at it and build this thing so it can get some readership going. There are, I think around 50,000 blogs created every day- I'm not saying this could be an Instapundit or an Althouse, but I'd like to try and take it places.
5. Be an Active Member of the Community: I don't just want to sit on the sidelines and commentate- I want to stand up for the things I care about in my community and work to get some problems solved. I'd like to do something to help the Arts Campus get back on its feet after the floods of last summer or maybe get the Art Museum re-established somewhere.
6. Write. Apart from the blog and the MA Thesis, I want to outline and start writing a novel. I have had the building blocks of a story in place in my head for a long time. Now I want to build it- and see if it's actually worth reading.
7. Photograph. Occasionally, when the time is perfect I take really good photographs. I'd like to become more consistent and maybe start building a portfolio of sorts- with an eye to seeing, once again, if it's something I'm seriously good at or just something of a hobby.
8. Refresh my languages and find ways to use them: I collected so many languages as an undergraduate and pretty much stopped using them once I hit grad school. I'd like to change that this year- and Iowa City, with its active international community might just be the place to do it. I won't even bother regaling you with the disaster of my ventures into Arabic- but French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili and Hindi I would like to find at least semi-regular uses for.
9. Find a job- like a $30,000 a year one.
10. Find a house. (I didn't really include a lot of detail on these last two resolutions, because as far as I'm concerned, they're both done deals. I AM going to find a job and we ARE going to find a house.)
I hope everyone had a fantastic (and safe) New Years! Congratulations to the Iowa Hawkeyes for stomping South Carolina 31-10 in the Outback Bowl yesterday! Hopefully, it's the harbinger of good things to come.
But Allison and I (along with Moxie, Sampson, Sophie and Hawkeye) are officially back in Iowa City. When I left, I was eager to get away- and everything was too familiar and too stale for me to appreciate it. Now that I'm back, it turns out that Allison was very correct- I do see things with new eyes- and I appreciate everything that this incredible community has done for me over the years and want to (in the coming year) figure out a way to give back to the community somehow. (First of course, there is the small matter of acquiring a job and a place to live other than my parents' house.)
But in the spirit of the New Year, I thought I'd type out 10 Resolutions that I'm going to do my utmost to meet in the coming year:
1. Lose weight. When I moved to Mankato, I was fit, trim and hovering around the 190 mark- now, as of thirty seconds ago I was at about 234. I'd like to get down to 200 at minimum and maybe that 190-195 range at best. But for sure, this is the year I lose the Mankato weight.
2. Cook. I have this thought going through my head that I would like to, someday, maybe open a bar/restaurant- and to do that, I want to see just how good at cooking I really am- whether I'm just really good or whether or not I'm 'restaurant' good. Stay tuned- because I plan to share the results of my experiments right here on the blog.
3. Finish the MA: It's essentially down to the last dregs, but it has to be done. I have maybe .25 of a thesis to finish and defend by May and that's that with the whole school thing for awhile.
4. Blog: I think, thus far I have established the fact that I can blog- now I just want to be better at it and build this thing so it can get some readership going. There are, I think around 50,000 blogs created every day- I'm not saying this could be an Instapundit or an Althouse, but I'd like to try and take it places.
5. Be an Active Member of the Community: I don't just want to sit on the sidelines and commentate- I want to stand up for the things I care about in my community and work to get some problems solved. I'd like to do something to help the Arts Campus get back on its feet after the floods of last summer or maybe get the Art Museum re-established somewhere.
6. Write. Apart from the blog and the MA Thesis, I want to outline and start writing a novel. I have had the building blocks of a story in place in my head for a long time. Now I want to build it- and see if it's actually worth reading.
7. Photograph. Occasionally, when the time is perfect I take really good photographs. I'd like to become more consistent and maybe start building a portfolio of sorts- with an eye to seeing, once again, if it's something I'm seriously good at or just something of a hobby.
8. Refresh my languages and find ways to use them: I collected so many languages as an undergraduate and pretty much stopped using them once I hit grad school. I'd like to change that this year- and Iowa City, with its active international community might just be the place to do it. I won't even bother regaling you with the disaster of my ventures into Arabic- but French, Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili and Hindi I would like to find at least semi-regular uses for.
9. Find a job- like a $30,000 a year one.
10. Find a house. (I didn't really include a lot of detail on these last two resolutions, because as far as I'm concerned, they're both done deals. I AM going to find a job and we ARE going to find a house.)
I hope everyone had a fantastic (and safe) New Years! Congratulations to the Iowa Hawkeyes for stomping South Carolina 31-10 in the Outback Bowl yesterday! Hopefully, it's the harbinger of good things to come.
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