Thursday, June 02, 2005

Darfur:  the Genocide in Sudan   I have long thought that there is a costly, but simple, solution to the genocide going on in the Sudan.  I want to start by declaring my honest amazement that Christian conservatives have been largely silent on this issue:  the Africans being killed are almost all Christians, and it is an open question whether the main motivation behind their rape and murder at the hands of the Arab majority has a primarily racial or religious component.  It is one of the things that has me thinking many Christian conservatives are much more loyal to conservatism than Christianity.  The Sudanese government is using planes to drop bombs on villages in the Darfur, while armed militias with the implicit sanction of the government, if not the active support, wander the area with impunity, raping and killing.  The solution is simple:  send in the US Air Force.  Shoot down any planes going into Darfur, and strafe or bomb any forces on the ground with weapons, because the people getting killed are unarmed, and anyone you're likely to run into in the area with a gun is probably a bad guy. The reason why the genocide continues is it doesn't cost the killers anything.  They aren't in any danger, and they obviously aren't overly troubled by matters of conscience.  Our efforts don't even have to be very successful.  If we just kill off a few of those folks, the genocide will end in a hurry.  Make genocide a potentially fatal hobby, and it will stop.  Granted, the ammunition and flight maintenance costs would be costly, but not as ultimately expensive as letting countries think they can wipe out ethnic and religious groups at no cost to themselves. 4:22:22 PM    comment []

Air America and Al Franken's Political Prospects   I was surfing the internet, and I read speculation that if Al Franken decides to run for the Senate, he may have to quit doing his radio show (my computer froze up while I was reading, so I can't credit the blog where I read it), and that would be a bad thing for Air America, given that the Al Franken Show is their flagship broadcast.  Well, as it happens, I remember back when Jesse Ventura ran for governor of Minnesota, he had a radio show, dealing almost entirely with politics.  He didn't drop the show, and he actually continued to do a political radio show while he was governor...he just didn't talk about his run for governor, or about being governor.  Now, the laws are obviously different for federal elections than state elections (for instance, in Texas corporations can't spend money on state campaigns, but of course they break that law when Tom DeLay asks them to), but I suspect that as long as Franken doesn't use the broadcast to campaign for office, but instead discusses issues, and other politicians, he should be safe to continue the radio show.  Now, when he becomes Senator, obviously, that's a different thing.  Senators often have to vote on matters on Wednesdays, during the thirty or so weeks they're in town.  So he may need to have a guest host in place occasionally. 8:03:54 AM    comment []

Casino Wear   I have an old, rather beautiful shark skin smoking jacket; I found it eight or ten years ago in a used clothing store in Baltimore; I never would have found its like in Minneapolis, where I live, because one of the thousands of other would-be rock stars would have bought it before me.  It was already thirty, maybe even forty years old.  It doesn't fit me very well any more, because I have expanded somewhat since then, and it has stubbornly remained the same size.  I keep it against the day that it grows, or I shrink; each possibility is roughly equally likely.  But it is the remaining label on the inside that concerns me now.  The label that lists the designer is gone; the remaining label is somewhat faded, but proudly reads, "Casino Wear".  That's right, there was a time when there were entire lines of clothing designed for people to wear in casinos.  Texas No Limit poker has recently become the favorite sport for everyone who has no interest in standing, let along running around, hitting something, or getting hit.  Two of the hit TV shows (CSI and Las Vegas) are set in Vegas.  This is Las Vegas's new cultural moment.  Isn't it time someone revived casino wear?  And shark skin suits, is there any reason we stopped making those (it's not like they were made from actual sharks)?  Also, where is the new Dean Martin?  A charming, funny drunk who can act a little and has a passable singing voice? 4:41:30 AM    comment []

Quote for the Day, 6/2/2005   "Brevity is the soul of lingerie."   -Dorothy Parker 2:20:10 AM    comment []