Tuesday, September 18
King Kaufman: Rally round the flag? "There are two kinds of patriots: The 'God Bless America' kind and the 'This Land Is Your Land' kind. I'm the latter. [...] Here's one of the verses school kids don't sing: 'As I was walking, I saw a sign there/And that sign said 'No trespassing'/But on the other side, it didn't say nothing/Now that side was made for you and me.'"
9:17 AM
Francis Fukuyama: The End of American exceptionalism. This may be the only time I'll ever agree with Fukuyama, but he's got some very good points in this short article.
American exceptionalism? It applies in many ways, but none more striking than in foreign policy. For example? The US worked very hard behind the scenes for many years to gain a treaty banning land mines, then refused to sign it. The US works hard at developing consensus rules for everyone to adhere to, but then ends up not signing on itself.
Make no mistake, I am NOT blaming the US for the acts of last week in any way. I am, however, concerned with a) how it reacts, and b) how it, along with others, contributed to the context in which it happened. Because if those root issues are not dealt with, no amount of fire and brimstone from the world's only superpower will be successful.
9:04 AM
Edward Said: The Events and Aftermath.
9:02 AM
Still an ignorant demagogue: Jerry Falwell apologizes (again), this time for having his words quoted, for being ill-timed, not actually for what he said.
7:04 AM
Monday, September 17
Leslie Harpold: Afghan Kebab House II [via Megnut]
6:24 PM
Sunday, September 16
Unplugged portal by Jerome Camus: The reference point is not Pearl Harbour. It is not the Cuban Missile Crisis. It is not the Berlin Wall. It is the Marshall Plan, the race to the moon... and a bit more.
11:05 AM
Saturday, September 15
Disgusting: Falwell's non-apologetic 'apology'. Myself? I find myself repulsed by all fundamentalism, including Falwell's.
1:28 PM
Jim Travers: Hopelessness fed hijackers' anger. "The war on terrorism will begin, as it now must, with a measured and terrible response to the events of this week. It will only end when hope convinces those young men that there is an alternative to death."
11:38 AM
Naomi Klein: Game Over: The End of Video Game Wars.
When I was in undergrad I published my first and only paper in a journal. It wasn't actually much of a paper, and I never followed up on the subject very seriously, but it resonates a bit now.
The paper was about the rise of trade unionism in the First World War in Germany and the UK. The story is often forgotten, but it's important. The British Union movement staunchly resisted the war effort, and in particular resisted giving in blindly to the government's demands due to "wartime considerations". They fought tooth and nail for concessions in working hours, in pay rates, and most importantly for recognition by the state.
Britain still won the war (with lots of help from others of course), and not in spite of the Unions, because the criticisms they brought to the table improved the conditions of people in general, which led to greater success and support in general for the war effort.
There's a lesson in this for us, today. Important parts of societies can be critical of their government and strive for improvement while not dooming the whole effort. Societies can be improved during crisis periods, and such improvement doesn't always mean blindly following along, necessarily.
The price of freedom, it is said, is eternal vigilance. That applies equally, always, inwards as well as outwards. The external foe is not the only threat.
1:20 AM
Friday, September 14
{fray}: missing pieces. As you should expect by now, stunning in every way.
10:00 PM
Caterina Fake: "From my friend Maura, a letter from Tamim Ansary, an Afghani-American writer." A very important piece to read.
9:40 PM
From Parliament Hill in Ottawa: At times like this, Canada and the US are, "not only like neighbours, but like family."
2:45 PM
Dave Winer: Palestinians.
My quirky translation: These are tragic, frustrating times. It's also an opportunity to do right by our neighbours - all of our neighbours. The stakes? As I wrote elsewhere:
History will judge the perpetrators of this, as will (likely) military or other action judge them. What has happened is horrific, and deeply sad. And without justification in any way.1:40 PM
But history will also judge us all, as individuals and collectively, in our reactions. If we start painting all arabs or muslims with the terrorist brush - we will, and should, be judged harshly for that. If we let mindless aggression get the better of us, whether in our governments or as individuals - we will, and should, be judged harshly for that.
Tom Coates says it's not enough simply to mourn. I wish it were otherwise, but I agree with him entirely on this point. We are in the midst of a period of extreme danger, and thinking, feeling people must gather up the strength to fight all forces who would use this for their shallow, fundamentalist, outrageous political goals.
Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson have already blamed this on gays and lesbians and a general moral lassitude in the US (and presumably in the West in general). This is absolutely wrong, and although we may hurt, we cannot just let objectionable, fundamentalist views such as that to slide without remark.
Many people (Jish being but one) are reporting mistreatment of people who are or are taken to be Arabs. This is unconscionable, and if you're a thinking person, you know it's unacceptable. Do something about it, if you are a witness to such behaviour.
As we speak, politicians are meeting to discuss serious curbs on speech that are certainly unwise and arguably unconstitutional. Like the Son of Star Wars in the military arena, laws such as this would do little do deal with any security problems leading up to a tragedy such as the one this week - and yet, liberty will likely come under attack though little, if any, evidence has been or will be put forward to justify these laws.
It is a time to mourn and grieve. It is also a time to speak out, and to act.
10:37 AM
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