07 Nov 2004
Europeans Face Tough Choices on Islam (AP)

Yep. Tough choices, indeed... they can either impose some serious immigration/cultural restrictions, or face the extinction of the European democratic ideal. Without them, the map could look like this in ten years.

Of course, if they do impose such restrictions, then it could equally be said that the European democratic ideal is dead already. Tough choices ... which must be made. Curiously (for an American, anyway) I think the French are on the right track by banning all religious headgear and outsized emblems: the goal is not to cut religion out of society, but to maintain a secular, tolerant state.

The Middle East has a problem with fundamentalist religion, so does the United States (there are many Christian Reconstructionists active in the current Congress and Administration, including the House Majority Leader, Tom Delay of Texas), even India has it's native fundies. Should these movements succeed, we can expect to see a world where heathens, pagans, atheists, freethinkers are literally endangered species.

AP - Europe's complex interplay with Islam appears to stand at a tipping-point, and the slaying of a Dutchman who made a movie critical of Islam could indicate one direction in which it is headed. "The Muslims say they're scared," said mourner Nicolette Toering. "No, we're scared."

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

00:00 /Asatru | 0 comments | permanent link

Vet Called Up Years After Discharge Sues (AP)

Wanna know the dirty little secret behind all of the recent campaign allegations of a restarted draft? They're true ... and they would be no matter who had won the last election. Be aware I'm only saying the the allegations of "plans to restart" are accurate, I'm not saying that the draft will be actually restarted...

As long as we insist on being the world's policeman, we will be in need of vastly increased military forces: I'm talking boots on the ground: the infantry, the grunts. That's where wars are won or lost, and we simply don't have enough of them in Iraq to contain the current insurgency.

Of course, the danger with a conscript army is that it's a conscript army: I know, I was in one! Morale is going to be much lower, and combat capabilities always degrade when your forces are composed of virtual slaves.

But no matter how much military planners recognize these facts, it's simply politically impossible to implement the draft now. It would result in a virtual civil war, and insure that the President who signed the orders (or his party) would not be reelected. So I doubt that Bush would actually do it, or that Karl Rove would let him. And I'm certain a President Kerry would not have.

But that means we'll continue to be undermanned - which leads to political consequences as severe as implementing the draft. Iraq will continue to be a drain on our resources and a quagmire, and we'll be prevented by lack of manpower from dealing forcefully with any new situation that may require it (North Korea comes immediately to mind). And those kinds of scenerios can chuck a party from power as surely as a draft.

I sometimes wonder if Osama & Co. didn't plant the intelligence pointing to WMD's in Iraq precisely to get us involved. Was he figuring on letting us eliminate a secular tryant for him, in order to ignite a jihad agsinst us and eventually impose Islamic state tyranny in place of Saddam? Could he really be that clever? Naw ...

AP - A veteran of the first Persian Gulf War is suing the Army after it ordered him to report for duty 13 years after he was honorably discharged from active duty and eight years after he left the reserves.

(link) [Yahoo! News: Top Stories]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Microsoft Offers to License the Internet

How generous of them ... and it would be even nicer of them if they actually had rights to the stuff being licensed!

According to an eWeek story Microsoft is beginning to assert IP rights over 130 protocols including many basic Internet protocols including TCP/IP, DNS, etc. The story originates with a mailing list post to the IETF's IPR list.

(link) [Slashdot]

00:00 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link