Thursday, January 23, 2003

Visit Miguel Octavio's blog, Venezuela, for an authentic view of the Venezuelan crisis. [Rayne Today] I'll post the banner, though I'm personally skeptical of both sides of the conflict in Venezuela. Sure, Chavez is a power-mad wanna-be Castro whose economic policies haven't really worked, but whenever I hear an interview with a representative from the opposition, it's someone with connections to oil corporations. That, combined with the Bush support for the failed coup last year (or was it the year before?), keeps me uncertain. Hell, Chavez has far more legitimacy behind his election than Bush. The Venezuelans elected him - doesn't that mean they have to accept the consequences? They can vote him out when the next election comes around. That's how democracy works.

12:29:20 PM p e r m a l i n k trackback [] say something []

Opposition to Iraq war widens. China joins growing calls against a possible US-led war on Iraq, as ministers from key Middle East states meet to seek a peaceful solution. [BBC News | World | UK Edition] But here's the thing: does anyone really think this opposition is going to stop the Bush junta? The US' only allies on this seem to be the UK (for now), Australia, Israel, and the new Eastern European NATO members (as if Poland and Lithuania are going to disagree with ANYTHING we say at this point). That's pretty pathetic, really. Polls in the US show a strong third of the country opposes war, period, with a majority of the remainder requiring multilateral UN approval before going to war. One poll shows near 70% in favor of giving the UN inspectors a lot more time. Oh, and Bush's approval ratings? Down to 54% here, which also says 72% believe that Bush needs to show evidence of Iraq having WMDs before war, and 48% think al Qaeda is the greatest threat to the US, as opposed to 24% who think Iraq is. And I'm afraid NONE of this means anything. Powell got sent out to threaten war, Rumsfeld blew off two of our most important allies, Rice says Iraq is failing to cooperate...and CNN.com's headline is a desperate "US: We have allies on Iraq" in response to the ample evidence to the contrary. It doesn't matter - the Bush junta wants its war. I don't know why, exactly. Oil isn't reason enough. Potential political gain isn't reason enough. National security sure as hell isn't reason enough. Add 'em all together, and I don't even see an argument that can be made, let alone a convincing one. What the hell is going on here? What'll it take to make them see the light and stop?

12:26:01 PM p e r m a l i n k trackback [] say something []

Bush appoints anti-gay member to AIDS panel.. Bush appoints anti-gay member to AIDS panel. Jerry Thacker runs the Scepter Institute, a Christian Ministry. Their website states that "Both Jerry and his wife, Sue, [are] HIV-positive. How could it be? Jerry and Sue were committed Christians." The L.A. Times notes that Thacker has described homosexuality as a "deathstyle," and describes significant revisions that have been made to the Scepter Institute's website. I wonder if Thacker will be applying for some funds to renovate Scepter's offices, now that he is providing such a valuable social service? [MetaFilter] ...are you freakin' serious?

11:32:42 AM p e r m a l i n k trackback [] say something []

French outrage at 'old Europe' remarks [BBC World] See? Well done, Rummy.
9:44:57 AM p e r m a l i n k trackback [] say something []

Are you kidding me? Germany and France make their opposition to invading Iraq clear, and Rumsfeld just dismisses them as unimportant? Is he nuts? Oh, and I loved the Rumsfeld quote about NATO - "the center of gravity is shifting to the east." So what, Poland is more important now than France or Germany? Are these people all insane?
9:41:58 AM p e r m a l i n k trackback [] say something []