U.S. Political Consultants on Papal Election
In 1999, James Carville advised Ehud Barak in his successful campaign for Israeli prime minister, and said "Who won came down to who got that all-important Jewish vote."
In that spirit, I think Papal candidates should focus on the all-important Catholic vote.
Politics, Pope
6 Nisan 2005 Çarşamba
Free Speech and Canada
Free Speech and Canada
The First Amendment is one of the really great things about America. Sometimes it's honored more in the breach, but at least in theory it's there.
Now, there's a lot of cool things about Canada - universal health care, gay marriage, mediacal marijuana, the way they say "oot" - but they don't have a First Amendment. They have fairly strict rules on the coverage of trials. But in the era of global communication that doesn't work. In the dark ages of the Internet, the Karla Homolka murder trial was a milestone as Usenet groups flared with the gruesome details that were banned from the Canadian press and airwaves.
It's happening again and the Canadian papers discuss it only in veiled terms:
So, in full contempt of the disrespect for free speech: Captain's Quarters
Kos hipped me to this.
Canada
The First Amendment is one of the really great things about America. Sometimes it's honored more in the breach, but at least in theory it's there.
Now, there's a lot of cool things about Canada - universal health care, gay marriage, mediacal marijuana, the way they say "oot" - but they don't have a First Amendment. They have fairly strict rules on the coverage of trials. But in the era of global communication that doesn't work. In the dark ages of the Internet, the Karla Homolka murder trial was a milestone as Usenet groups flared with the gruesome details that were banned from the Canadian press and airwaves.
It's happening again and the Canadian papers discuss it only in veiled terms:
A U.S. website has breached the publication ban protecting a Montreal ad executive's explosive and damning testimony at the federal sponsorship inquiry. The U.S. blogger riled the Gomery commission during the weekend by posting extracts of testimony given in secret Thursday by Jean Brault.
The American blog, being promoted by an all-news Canadian website, boasts "Canada's Corruption Scandal Breaks Wide Open" and promises more to come. The owner of the Canadian website refused to comment yesterday.
Publishing the name of the blog or the Canadian news site that promoted it or providing the blog's Internet address could lead to a contempt charge.
So, in full contempt of the disrespect for free speech: Captain's Quarters
Kos hipped me to this.
Canada
In Praise Of The Quickie
In Praise Of The Quickie
I'll bet THAT headline boosts traffic. Sorry, folks, it's about politics:
First let's correct the factual error: the Prime Minister of the UK is NOT a head of state, he or she is a head of government. The Queen is the head of state.
And the thirty day window betweeen setting the election date and going to the polls doesn't mean that there's not perpetual posturing, positioning, and electioneering.
One of the striing differences between our system and parliamentary system is the process of nominating a leader. In the U.S. we nominate the head of party, the presidential candidate, immediately before a general election.
Contrast this with the UK. The leader is normally chosen immediately AFTER an election. Traditionally, the leader of the losing party resigns immediately after the defeat, as John Major did in 1997 and Neil Kinnock in 1992. (If the loss is narrow or credible, the losing leader may stay on as did Kinnock in `87.) The defeated party then goes directly into the equivalent of the primary-convention season, and the public knows for several years who the main candidates will be.
Both the current major party leaders were chosen in mid-term. Blair was elected Labour leader in 1994 after the sudden death of John Smith, who succeeded Kinnock in after the 1992 loss. Tory Leader Michael Howard took charge in 2003 after Iain Duncan Smith (chosen in 2001 to replace the defeated William Hague) lost a confidence vote - in effect, the equivalent of an American primary challenge.
Interestingly, it has been the Conservatives who have been more inclined to challenge leaders. Margaret Thatcher gained the leadership in a 1975 challenge to Edward Heath, and lost the leadership and Prime Ministership in a 1990 challenge. In contrast, the three post-WW2 challenges to Labour leadership have failed.
As for the American perpetual campaign vs. the British "quickie," the speedy elections in parliamentary systems are only enabled by a strong and permanent party structure - a different sort of perpetual campaign.
Politics, UK Election
I'll bet THAT headline boosts traffic. Sorry, folks, it's about politics:
If we were smart, we'd watch the United Kingdom do in 30 days what it took us Americans of ingenuity 300 days to do last year: elect a head of state. Yesterday, April 5, 2005 Prime Minister Tony Blair called an election for May 5, 2005.
First let's correct the factual error: the Prime Minister of the UK is NOT a head of state, he or she is a head of government. The Queen is the head of state.
And the thirty day window betweeen setting the election date and going to the polls doesn't mean that there's not perpetual posturing, positioning, and electioneering.
One of the striing differences between our system and parliamentary system is the process of nominating a leader. In the U.S. we nominate the head of party, the presidential candidate, immediately before a general election.
Contrast this with the UK. The leader is normally chosen immediately AFTER an election. Traditionally, the leader of the losing party resigns immediately after the defeat, as John Major did in 1997 and Neil Kinnock in 1992. (If the loss is narrow or credible, the losing leader may stay on as did Kinnock in `87.) The defeated party then goes directly into the equivalent of the primary-convention season, and the public knows for several years who the main candidates will be.
Both the current major party leaders were chosen in mid-term. Blair was elected Labour leader in 1994 after the sudden death of John Smith, who succeeded Kinnock in after the 1992 loss. Tory Leader Michael Howard took charge in 2003 after Iain Duncan Smith (chosen in 2001 to replace the defeated William Hague) lost a confidence vote - in effect, the equivalent of an American primary challenge.
Interestingly, it has been the Conservatives who have been more inclined to challenge leaders. Margaret Thatcher gained the leadership in a 1975 challenge to Edward Heath, and lost the leadership and Prime Ministership in a 1990 challenge. In contrast, the three post-WW2 challenges to Labour leadership have failed.
As for the American perpetual campaign vs. the British "quickie," the speedy elections in parliamentary systems are only enabled by a strong and permanent party structure - a different sort of perpetual campaign.
Politics, UK Election
5 Nisan 2005 Salı
Blogger's Lament
Blogger's Lament
Struggling with a massive case of writer's block the last few days. I have nothing of interest to say about the Pope and it's been kind of a one news story weekend.
So for the last few weeks I've been watching the traffic slowly trickle off. I ping and tag and write and ping and tag and write, and watch myself devolve from Crawly Amphibian to Flippery Fish.
But as soon as writers block hits - capped by that pathetic "Nothing To Say" post Sunday, the hit counter spins faster than it has since the Cedar Rapids book burning blast last July. Second busiest day ever. And why?
Well, it seems this post, a sad little link to someone else's actual musical creativity, indexed well and is accounting for a third of the traffic. That wonderful post that I jazzed up with a stupid Laura Prepon pic from a YEAR ago, that just happened to get indexed on a Google photo index, makes up another quarter. Only 20 percent of the traffic is actually landing on the blog page proper.
And my only inbound link in a couple weeks is on Florida redistricting - credit that's really due to the blogger I linked to in the first place.
Yet when I put some real effort into it (the Women Not Winning In Iowa series) - it's a drip in the ocean. So does it really matter what I write? Or that I've resorted to writing about writer's block? Is this some sort of metaphor for futility?
Blogging
Struggling with a massive case of writer's block the last few days. I have nothing of interest to say about the Pope and it's been kind of a one news story weekend.
So for the last few weeks I've been watching the traffic slowly trickle off. I ping and tag and write and ping and tag and write, and watch myself devolve from Crawly Amphibian to Flippery Fish.
But as soon as writers block hits - capped by that pathetic "Nothing To Say" post Sunday, the hit counter spins faster than it has since the Cedar Rapids book burning blast last July. Second busiest day ever. And why?
Well, it seems this post, a sad little link to someone else's actual musical creativity, indexed well and is accounting for a third of the traffic. That wonderful post that I jazzed up with a stupid Laura Prepon pic from a YEAR ago, that just happened to get indexed on a Google photo index, makes up another quarter. Only 20 percent of the traffic is actually landing on the blog page proper.
And my only inbound link in a couple weeks is on Florida redistricting - credit that's really due to the blogger I linked to in the first place.
Yet when I put some real effort into it (the Women Not Winning In Iowa series) - it's a drip in the ocean. So does it really matter what I write? Or that I've resorted to writing about writer's block? Is this some sort of metaphor for futility?
Blogging
Blair sets 5 May as election date
Blair sets 5 May as election date
Ahh, THIS should inspire me to some writing. An election to watch with no work involved for me and some fun comparative politics:
The UK's 2 1/2 plus party system.
The question of which party, the Tories or Liberals, is the half-party and where: "In the English South-west, Labour barely count and the real contest is between Tories and Liberal Democrats. In large parts of the English north, it is a Labour-Lib Dem fight, with the Conservatives out of it."
The joys of tactical voting.
The impact of Scottish reapportionment - they lose seats which disproportionately hurts Labour
Northern Ireland, where they play REAL hardball with bullets and bombs. "With Sinn Fein and the DUP continuing to advance against the once-dominant parties of Northern Ireland, that should be interesting too."
My gut check is Blair and Labour (aah, Anglophile spelling) will win on sheer inertia but Tony won't complete the term. The big question is whether Tory disarray will drop them into third place, either in popular vote or in actual MPs making the Lib Dems the Loyal Opposition.
Politics
Ahh, THIS should inspire me to some writing. An election to watch with no work involved for me and some fun comparative politics:
My gut check is Blair and Labour (aah, Anglophile spelling) will win on sheer inertia but Tony won't complete the term. The big question is whether Tory disarray will drop them into third place, either in popular vote or in actual MPs making the Lib Dems the Loyal Opposition.
Politics
Senator Links Violence To 'Political' Decisions
Senator Links Violence To 'Political' Decisions
Too ill and exhausted to blog yesterday but I was able to read a little. Despite the massive coverage of the Pope's death, a few other items popped up, and this outrage from Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) was all over:
My brain still isn't up to insight or comment but I think it stands by itself.
Too ill and exhausted to blog yesterday but I was able to read a little. Despite the massive coverage of the Pope's death, a few other items popped up, and this outrage from Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) was all over:
"I don't know if there is a cause-and-effect connection, but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in this country. . . . And I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters, on some occasions, where judges are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in, engage in violence. Certainly without any justification, but a concern that I have."
My brain still isn't up to insight or comment but I think it stands by itself.
4 Nisan 2005 Pazartesi
Border volunteers tripping sensors used to detect illegal crossers
Border volunteers tripping sensors used to detect illegal crossers
"TOMBSTONE - Citizens who volunteered to patrol the Mexican border for illegal immigrants and smugglers are disrupting Border Patrol operations by tripping sensors that alert agents to possible illegal crossings, an agency spokesman said Monday.
Even though volunteers for the Minuteman Project were only beginning their regular, monthlong patrols Monday, they have unwittingly set off sensors during the past few days, forcing agents to respond to what essentially is a false alarm, said Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Jose Maheda.
'Every sensor has to be addressed,' Maheda said. 'It's taken away from our normal operations.' "
Here's a nice color and flavor report.
Politics
"TOMBSTONE - Citizens who volunteered to patrol the Mexican border for illegal immigrants and smugglers are disrupting Border Patrol operations by tripping sensors that alert agents to possible illegal crossings, an agency spokesman said Monday.
Even though volunteers for the Minuteman Project were only beginning their regular, monthlong patrols Monday, they have unwittingly set off sensors during the past few days, forcing agents to respond to what essentially is a false alarm, said Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Jose Maheda.
'Every sensor has to be addressed,' Maheda said. 'It's taken away from our normal operations.' "
Here's a nice color and flavor report.
Politics
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