North Korea has agreed to give up its nukes,in exchange for aid. Again. Let’s hope that this time, they mean it. And President Bush seems to have updated Ronald Reagans’ slogan from the eighties: Trust, but verify. Now its just verify.
Archive for category Politics
Burn Me Once
Sep 19
And in other news, the California legislature has redefined marriage to be between two persons. Governor Schwarzenegger has to sign the bill for it to take effect. I hope he doesn’t. But at least the process is right – no judge’s fiat, no official ignoring the law.
UPDATE: Governor Schwarzenegger has said he will veto the bill because it conflicts with an initiative passed in 2000 that prevents California from recognizing same sex marriages performed in other states. I suppose the Governor is sensitive to such initiatives since they have formed the backbone of his programs in California. It could also just be cover for a political decision that he would like to avoid.
Claire Is In
Aug 30
The big political news here in Missouri is that Claire McCaskill is running for the Senate against Jim Talent. Needless to say, there are different viewpoints on the matter: pro and con. I have to admit that I like both Talent and McCaskill, but I expect I’ll be voting for Jim come election time. Hopefully Claire won’t try to connect with rural voters by blazing away with a shotgun like Jean Carnahan – forcing Jim to tout how he likes to fish which then led to fishing-licence-gate one of the stupider so called scandals in Missouri. And hopefully Claire will pick a better color scheme than the one she used against Blunt. I find McCaskill a much stronger candidate than Jean Carnahan, but I don’t know if my fellow Missourians agree with me. We did elect Matt Blunt, after all.
All Talleyrand All The Time
Aug 29
French President Jacques Chirac either doesn’t mind Iranian nukes or is a fool (or both). He has warned the Iranians that unless they take European inducements and suspend their quest for nuclear bomb, the United Nations Security Council will have no choice but to take up the matter. More talk, that’s the ticket. Boy, Wes Craven is kicking himself for not thinking up anything half as scary as that for his movies. Come on Jacques, that’s the best you can do? A slap on the wrist with a wet noodle? If you really want compliance, just tell the mullahs that if they don’t abandon the A-bomb, you’ll have no choice but to tell George Bush “bombs away, cowboy!” Now that’s a threat they’ll take seriously.
With Jacques, the real message could be that for the right price, you’ll put the UN in charge and then block any moves there. At least, that’s what a student of history might conclude.
All’s Not Well
Aug 19
The smoking ban for St. Louis county failed this week when a council member changed her mind apparently because she thought the ban wasn’t strict enough (I had a hard time digesting her remarks as reported in the paper). I am somewhat unhappy about the defeat. I guess I’ll just have to start visiting fine scarfing establishments in Ballwin, which does have a public smoking ban.
No Smoking Please
Aug 11
Kurt Odenwald, who happens to be my rep on the St. Louis County Council, is pushing an ordinance to ban smoking in a lot of public places. Needless to say, not everybody’s happy about it. I have somewhat mixed emotions about the ban, as I’m a limited government guy but a non-smoker who really can’t stand tobacco smoke. So I keep asking myself would I be violating my principles by supporting such a ban.
My one bit of original reporting is that almost a year ago, while forced to sit in a smoking section to get a table in a restaurant, the owner apologized and said he wished the county would ban smoking in restaurants so that it would take the hassle out of it for him (he didn’t seem too worried about people traveling outside the county to eat and smoke). So not all business owners are opposed.
On the one hand, I don’t like the government telling the business owners what to do, although after all the hoops they already have to jump through, one more can’t be that bad. Nor do I like government telling people when and where they can do things. On the other, smoke pretty much ruins my enjoyment of whatever I’m doing, whether that’s eating, listening to a band outdoors, or watching fireworks. And as I’m confronted with less and less smoke as the years go by, the more sensitive I become to it, so much so that someone smoking several blankets away from me on a no breeze July evening waiting for the fireworks to starts is quite noticeable and causes me to breath shallowly. And smoke lingers – in clothes, in furnishings, in breath. I don’t think I’m alone in this, so there is a clash between smokers and non-smokers with businesses and public events caught in the middle.
I know the ordinance is pitched at the claim that the workers need protection from all that second hand smoke, but if so why are there any exceptions? Am I morally lacking that I discount that claim and focus in on the public – smokers and non-smokers? Can I in good conscience ask the government to restrict people from doing what they enjoy to increase my enjoyment? If, as my libertarian friends assure me, the right to swing my fist around ends at the start of someone’s nose, does someone’s right to spread their smoke around end at the start of my nose as well?
I suppose in a more perfect world, we could all just get along and figure out how smokers and non-smokers could share the air without resorting to laws. Part of the problem is that while a non-smoking section next to a smoking section my be smoker free, it’s not smoke free. I understand that government can’t smooth out every bump, can’t make my life nuisance (or worse) free, but I’m tired of tobacco smoke. Maybe I should put up with the occasional dose of tobacco smoke so that others can enjoy their smoke, but I’m tired of not being able to breath freely and enjoy a meal because somebody else has an addiction. So if you want to light up, go right ahead – on your own property. You can even leave the curtains open.
Over There
Jul 29
Lots of good news on the international front.
CAFTA — the Central American Free Trade Agreement — passed very narrowly. Free trade is good for everyone in the long run, not just Illinois farmers. Forbes thinks that the closeness of the vote makes other free trade agreements harder; this would have to come under the heading of effect and not cause in my book.
The IRA has announced that they will lay down their arms. This has been a long time coming, and I’m glad to see it. They should have done it in 1998, but better late than never, and maybe the Palestinians could learn something if they pay attention. Despite the name, I’m not an IRA sympathizer – quite the contrary in fact.
The State Department is saying a resolution to North Korea’s nuclear program is close at hand. And while I firmly believe you shouldn’t count your chickens before they’re hatched, especially given the track record of North Korea, I am hopeful.
The 6 countries responsible for 40% of the carbon dioxide emissions announced a pact to reduce them. To me, this kind of initiative sounds much more promising than Kyoto which is a failure in conception and implementation.
Ugandans went to the polls and voted for multiparty democracy over “no-party” democracy in early, unofficial returns. Will they actually get it? That’s the hard part, really.
And in news I won’t qualify as “good”, but it is part of the international front, the Russian government objected to an interview with terrorist mass murderer Shamil Basayev, the man behind the Beslan massacre. While I think running the interview is OK, ABC news had a duty to present the context – a remind viewers of the truly awful nature of what this guy has done, deliberately targeting children for death. I didn’t see the interview, so they may well have done so.
My Plea
Jul 28
How about that Live 8!?!
Now that the hoopla is over, if you prefer a more bottoms up than top down approach, if you don’t think that G8 leaders run the world, than please check out Compassion International. It doesn’t focus exclusively on Africa, but world wide poverty. It is a very well run charitable organization, earning 4 out of 4 stars from Charity Navigator. It is all about one person (or group) helping another person. Yes, it is quite explicity Christian, which is important to me; if you would prefer to work through an organization that isn’t explicitly Christian that is your choice and please do so.
To those who are thinking “hey, I thought you were against aid to deveoping countries” here’s my position. Economic problems will be solved by political and economic development, but in the meantime there are people who are in desperate need. So while I think a lot of the big government programs hurt more than help, until countries do develop, the right kind of aid is needed. And feeding and educating children locally is (one form of) the right kind of aid. There is more to life than politics and economics, and Compassion helps there too by spreading the Gospel which should be preached to poor and rich alike.
The Other Asian Giant
Jul 21
In the category of news that’s really big but not much reported on because it doesn’t involve a celebrity, a young white woman, injury, or jail time, the Prime Minister of India has wrapped up trip to the United States. The US agreed to help India out with nuclear power technology in return for India implementing anti-proliferation controls on all their nuclear technology. I think it very good news that the US and India are developing a better working relationship.
An Oldie But A Goodie
Jul 8
As a follow-up to my previous post about Africa, I saw Instapundit’s post on Max Boot’s column about sub-standard government being the major problem in Africa which reminded me of my earlier post on the same subject:
What are rogue nations but those with particularly wretched governments – or government of the tyrant, by the tyrant, and for the tyrant. The countries that are the worst to live in are those with the worst governments. Poor countries are poor because their governments keep them poor through (at best) mismanagement and (at worst) deliberate rule for the ruler’s sake. Frankly, no government should be considered legitimate that doesn’t have the consent of it’s people in free and fair elections. The best way to decrease poverty, to reduce war, to reduce human suffering would be to improve government globally.
