Arriving Somewhere

Mark N. Katz writes a nice short article in the Washington Times about Putin’s motivations to continue the conflict in Chechnya.

Analysis: Putin’s self-defeating policy

Moscow’s failure to quell the Chechen insurgency has humiliated the Russian armed forces… But after promising to pacify Chechnya, such a withdrawal could cause grave damage to Putin politically… In short, many Russians fear (rightly or wrongly) that the secession of Chechnya will lead to the unraveling of Russia itself.
…
Moscow was especially threatened by the democratic revolutions that took place in Georgia in 2003, Ukraine in 2004, and Kyrgyzstan in 2005. Moscow fears similar democratic revolutions will spread to other former Soviet republics, which will also turn away from Russia and toward the United States. Putin prefers to see the present autocratic regimes primarily allied to or dependent on Russia in the former Soviet republics than democratic ones that are not.

Sunday was the first gathering of Worship in the Spirit of Justice. It was great to see so many come out to support our neighbors in Sudan.

The next gathering will be at the Capitol Reflecting pool and the target will be Congress.

Chris Kirk has some humbling thoughts on the subject…

I don’t want to be another ridiculous American who cares more about the price of gas than global poverty, epidemic disease, and child prostitution..

The sign in this photo reads, “Am I my brother’s keeper? YES I AM!”

Remember, God blesses nations to bless other nations.

Unbelievable!

From David Gilmour on Pink Floyd’s website:

Like most people I want to do everything I can to persuade the G8 leaders to make huge commitments to the relief of poverty and increased aid to the third world. It’s crazy that America gives such a paltry percentage of its GNP to the starving nations. Any squabbles Roger and the band have had in the past are so petty in this context, and if re-forming for this concert will help focus attention then it’s got to be worthwhile.

and

It was confirmed today that Roger Waters will join Pink Floyd to perform at the Live8 concert in Hyde Park on 2nd July.

It’s been 10 years since their last tour, and nearly 25 years since Roger Waters left the band. I’m not in shock over them playing Live 8, I’m in shock that they’re playing anywhere at all! And as a full band!

technorati tag: Pink Floyd, Live 8

Being located near the nation’s capitol provides the opportunity to participate in events that may not be available – or at least as noticeable – elsewhere. Sometimes something comes along that is so important that I feel obligated to participate, like it’s my responsible to get involved.

While there are other cities around the nation with a healthy activist scene (San Francisco, Seattle), DC is unique as this is the seat of government for our nation. I must admit, for the most part I ignore protests and demonstrations. It’s not uncommon to be downtown and see a small group of five or six or maybe ten people demonstrating for some outrageous and unrealistic goals. It is very rare that any protest is of significant size.

I digress.

A local Maryland church has organised a 5-week prayer/demonstration to call attention to the genocide crisis in Darfur, Sudan. Every Sunday beginning with June 12 we will meet at 1pm at a location downtown to worship and pray for a specific aspect of the crisis.

This Sunday we will be at the Lincoln memorial. The speakers include Tom Austin who will talk about the background of the situation, Cathy Norman who will share her experiences in Sudan and Brian McLaren who will deliver the sermon.

If you are in the area the next five Sundays I strongly urge you to consider joining us. It will not be exclusive to Christians or even religious types, we hope that anyone with an interest in seeing the media and our government take action concerning Darfur, will participate.

See http://www.worship4justice.org/ for more information.

I could go on for days about how the drivers around Washington are a special blend of dumb and aggressive. Sometimes I have to wonder how many drivers actually have a license – excluding those with diplomat plates, of course.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune:

Researchers with Allstate Insurance Co. analyzed two years worth of internal crash and claim data to calculate the chances that drivers in 196 of the nation’s biggest cities would be involved in an accident compared to the national average.

And who do you think came in dead last?

Washington, D.C., ranked 25th in the nation for population, is the least safe city for motorists with a chance of a fender bender once every 5.2 years.

Hmm, no surprise there. Reminds me of a kuro5hin article I posted a link to a while back: Tourist’s Guide To Driving Around Washington D.C.

Just a quick reminder that Dream Theater‘s new album Octavarium was released today. Go pick up your copy!

In a 6-3 decision this morning, the Supreme Court ruled that federal authorities may prosecute those who use “medical marijuana” despite ten States having laws that allow it.

San Francisco Gate:Supreme Court outlaws use of marijuana for medical reasons

I don’t have much time to comment right now… but I find this upsetting. Regardless of whether you support the use of cannabis for medical treatment, shouldn’t the decision be up to individual states? Especially considering quite a few have already ruled to allow it…. including my home states of California and Maryland.

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor had this to say:

“The states’ core police powers have always included authority to define criminal law and to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens”… she said the court was overreaching to endorse “making it a federal crime to grow small amounts of marijuana in one’s own home for one’s own medicinal use.”

Also read the ACLU’s response: State Medical Marijuana Laws Remain Valid Despite U.S. Supreme Court Ruling in Raich v. Ashcroft, ACLU Says

It’s not too often that I find myself on the same side as the ACLU.

technorati tag: medical marijuana, states rights, Supreme Court

The past few months I have been relatively quiet about anything policital. Well, I just read Ben Stein’s article about “Deep Throat” and just have to quote some of this.

Can anyone even remember now what Nixon did that was so terrible? He ended the war in Vietnam, brought home the POW’s, ended the war in the Mideast, opened relations with China, started the first nuclear weapons reduction treaty, saved Eretz Israel’s life, started the Environmental Protection Administration. Does anyone remember what he did that was bad?

Oh, now I remember. He lied. He was a politician who lied. How remarkable. He lied to protect his subordinates who were covering up a ridiculous burglary that no one to this date has any clue about its purpose. He lied so he could stay in office and keep his agenda of peace going. That was his crime. He was a peacemaker and he wanted to make a world where there was a generation of peace. And he succeeded.

That is his legacy. He was a peacemaker. He was a lying, conniving, covering up peacemaker. He was not a lying, conniving drug addict like JFK, a lying, conniving war starter like LBJ, a lying, conniving seducer like Clinton — a lying, conniving peacemaker. That is Nixon’s kharma.

When his enemies brought him down, and they had been laying for him since he proved that Alger Hiss was a traitor, since Alger Hiss was their fair-haired boy, this is what they bought for themselves in the Kharma Supermarket that is life:

1.) The defeat of the South Vietnamese government with decades of death and hardship for the people of Vietnam.

2.) The assumption of power in Cambodia by the bloodiest government of all time, the Khmer Rouge, who killed a third of their own people, often by making children beat their own parents to death. No one doubts RN would never have let this happen.

technorati tag: Deep Throat, Nixon

This is funny. I’m no iPod user myself… could this be the high-tech version of having someone pull up along side you in their car, with their windows down and stereo blasting so loud you can’t hear your own?

technorati tag: ipod

Armor Gedden is a fantastic blog written by a tank platoon commander over in Iraq. His writing is great and he tells the story from a soldier’s point of view. There had been a break in posts after he left Iraq, but now he’s posting again and I encourage everyone to check out his blog.

Here is an index to his account of the Battle of Fallujah.