February 2004 Archives

Well, if you are you’d better check and make sure you can answer no to the following questions.

1. Are you a Jew?
2. Have you ever been to Israel?
3. If female, do you refuse to cover your head with a veil?
4. Are you drunk?

According to a Guardian report the Saudi Arabian supreme commission for tourism is looking to lure foreign visitors to the Middle Eastern nation. The kingdom will begin issuing tourist visas in the next three weeks. There are also plans for a timeshare complex near Mecca, the holiest Muslim city. Mecca is closed to non-Muslims, however.

In addition, the tourist commission lists “those who will not be allowed in: Jews; people with Israeli stamps in their passport; ‘those who don’t abide by the Saudi traditions concerning appearance and behaviour’, and ‘those under the influence of alcohol’.”

[from the Guardian via Andrew Sullivan]

Rep. John Dingell of Michigan recently sent a letter to the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors regarding the “definition of manufacturing.”

Dear Dr. Mankiw: I noticed in the recently released Economic Report of the President that there was some consternation in the defining of manufacturing. It could be inferred from your report that the administration is willing to recognize drink mixing, hamburger garnishing, French/freedom fry cooking, and milk shake mixing to be vital components of our manufacturing sector. I am sure the 163,000 factory workers who have lost their jobs in Michigan will find it heartening to know that a world of opportunity awaits them in high growth manufacturing careers like spatula operator, napkin restocking, and lunch tray removal. I do have some questions of this new policy and I hope you will help me provide answers for my constituents:

Will federal student loans and Trade Adjustment Assistance grants be applied to tuition costs at Burger College? Will the administration commit to allowing the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) to fund cutting edge burger research such as new nugget ingredients or keeping the hot and cold sides of burgers separate until consumption? Will special sauce now be counted as a durable good? Do you want fries with that?

Finally, at a speech he gave in Michigan this past September, Secretary Evans announced the creation of a new Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing. While I understand that it takes a while to find the right candidate to fill these positions, I am concerned that five months after the announcement no Assistant Secretary has yet been named. I do, however, know of a public official who would be perfect for the job. He has over thirty years of administrative and media experience, has a remarkable record of working with diverse constituencies, and is extraordinarily well qualified to understand this emerging manufacturing sector: the Hon. Mayor McCheese.

With every good wish, Sincerely,

John D. Dingell Member of Congress

[via the Dead Parrots Society]

Andrew Sullivan is a Republican writer and commentator. He is also gay and he has been getting a lot of emails from people expressing their feelings about the President’s statements this morning regarding same-sex marriage. Here is one I found particularly indicative of my feelings, and I hope of the general public as well.

While it may mean little in the face of the hatred and discrimination expressed by our nation’s leader today, I want you to know you have my wholehearted support. How can it be that two people expressing their love for each other and asking society to recognize that love be a bad thing? How can a couple choosing to spend their life together in a bond of love possibly harm our society? It is beyond my apparently meager comprehension to anticipate the consequences that allowing gay marriage will bear. All I can anticipate is love and acceptance. It shouldn’t be an important fact, but I am straight. One of my close friends is gay. I’ve watched him experience heartbreak, hope and love over the last few years. His emotions are no less real than mine. His love is given as truly as mine is. Why should we not recognize this? And how dare we amend a document that gives hope and freedom to the world to deny hope and freedom to a group of our own citizens? It offends me as a straight man, as an American citizen, but more importantly as a human being who believes that each one of us deserves equal dignity, that our president seeks to cloak a beacon of liberty with a veil of intolerance and discrimination. I only wish that President Bush would have turned to the words of a great Republican president and heeded the better angels of his nature to oppose this amendment. It saddens me that his actions do not come as a surprise.

This morning President Bush announced that he would support amending the Constitution to include a definition of marriage as between a man and a woman. According to the President marriage cannot be “severed from its cultural, religious, and natural roots without weakening the good influence of society.”

What utter and complete nonsense, what does one thing have to do with the other? Nothing whatever. The claim is that same-sex marriage will weaken the institution of marriage and by extension endanger the “welfare of children and the stability of society.” This seems a lot like arguments against letting little black children go to school with little white children. Oh my god, the stability (read status quo) of society is at stake here people. The gays are going to overrun your family and steal your children and maybe even your pet dog.

As impetus for this move the President cites rulings by “activist judges” in Massachusetts who are seeking to “redefine marriage”. Just as in the 60s it is “activist judges” in state and federal courts that are forced to remedy the injustices in the laws. But these justices are neither activist nor out of control. They are doing their duty to uphold constitutional guarantees of equal treatment under the law and the interference of religion in lawmaking.

The Federal Marriage Amendment is mean spirited and ideologically anathema. True republicans, of which the President was never one, would never support an amendment that so clearly oversteps the logical boundaries of government authority or need. This is a blatant move to shore up support with religious and moral conservatives for the next election. The president is well aware that this amendment is not likely at all the be ratified even if it gets out of Congress. And it looks increasing like it won’t even make it that far.

Evidently the Army is getting in on the virtual world craze that’s been going on for the last year or so. According to the BBC it has commissioned There Inc. to build a virtual model of the Earth for use in simulations of combat, intelligence, planning and local population reactions in different scenarios.

There is also the developer of a virtual online world of the same name that allows users to interact with one another, build, shop, and live in a virtual space. The game is similar to The Sims, Everquest, and other virtual world simulators.

The AP reports on a new poll that says “two thirds” of Americans would support televised executions, and 21 percent would pay to see Osama bin Laden executed. According to the AP, however, only 46 percent of those polled would actually watch the executions.

What the hell is wrong with people? The idea of televising executions is appalling. And it doesn’t surprise me that the survey was done on behalf of a cable television network: Trio!.

Maybe the Clinton Scandals of the 90s have taught American media a good lesson. Despite the freakishly prominent headlines that have appeared on Drudge over the weekend about an alleged affair between John Kerry and a young woman, the mainstream press in the US has avoided the story. That’s a very good thing, and shows that the press is using its editorial judgment to cull stories without any “compelling public interest”.

This story, as many have suggested, could well have torpedoed Kerry’s campaign for the Presidency. And until this morning I was afraid that the woman at the center of the allegations would remain silent thus fueling the rumors or worse would come out in a paid interview and admit to an affair that never happened. Thankfully, she has done neither and has instead released a statement denying the allegations outright.

She told the AP in Kenya, “I have never had a relationship with Senator Kerry, and the rumors in the press are completely false.” and “Whoever is spreading these rumors and allegations does not know me.”

There’s always talk about the chilling effect of security measures and government surveillance and the like and I always find I lack any really great examples to share with doubters. But I have found one, and conveniently it comes from a professor I work with at NYU.

Siva Vaidhyanathan wrote a piece about airline security and free speech that is really intriguing. Read it on openDemocracy.net.

In case you missed it (I did) last night Janet Jackson exposed a pasty-covered breast at the finale of the Super Bowl Halftime Show. CBS and MTV, the show’s producers, deny that the incident was planned. Justin Timberlake said it was a “wardrobe malfunction.”

Come on people! Are we that stupid that you think we will believe that crap? Janet just happened to be wearing a pasty last night? Maybe she is one of the many women who always wear them just in case. But probably not.

So we’ve established that it was planned. Now the question is, Does it really matter? My answer, probably not. It’s in poor taste, no doubt about that. But I didn’t even notice it when I was watching the show. I wonder how many people got a really good look at anything at all. But nevertheless the FCC is getting involved and will be investigating the incident. I wonder what the big bad FCC will do to CBS. Can they (or will they) do anything that matters? Again, probably not.