Nobody Knows the Lynchings He’s Seen

WHAT'S the difference between a low-tech lynching and a high-tech lynching? A high-tech lynching brings a tenured job on the Supreme Court and a $1.5 million book deal. A low-tech lynching, not so much.

We are always at a crossroads with race in America, and so here we are again. The rollout of Justice Thomas's memoir, "My Grandfather's Son," is not happening in a vacuum. It follows a Supreme Court decision (which he abetted) outlawing voluntary school desegregation plans in two American cities. It follows yet another vote by the Senate to deny true Congressional representation to the majority black District of Columbia. It follows the decision by the leading Republican presidential candidates to snub a debate at a historically black college as well as the re-emergence of a low-tech lynching noose in Jena, La.

One former Nixon White House colleague, Pat Buchanan, said on "Meet the Press" last weekend that it was no big deal for Republican candidates to skip a debate before an African-American audience because blacks make up only about 10 percent of the voting public and Republicans only get about a tenth of that anyway. It didn't occur to Mr. Buchanan that in 21st-century America many white voters are also offended by politicians who snub black Americans — whether at a campaign debate or in the rubble of Hurricane Katrina.

Republicans who play the race card may find that it has an expiration date even in the South. In 2000, Mr. Bush could speak at Bob Jones University when it still forbade interracial dating among its students, and John McCain could be tarred as the father of an illegitimate black child in the South Carolina primary. No more. Just ask the former Senator George Allen, the once invincible Republican prince of Virginia, whose career ended in 2006 after his use of a single racial slur.

Read more of Frank Rich @ NYT

The Right Judicial Litmus Test...Follow the Constitution, or not?

This question is made all the more urgent by the fact that on Jan. 20, 2009, six of the nine current justices will be over the age of 70--an age at which many people either retire or begin to wind down their affairs. There is thus a very real possibility that the next president could appoint as many as four justices in his first term alone. We may be getting ready for the biggest turnover in the membership of the Supreme Court since Richard Nixon's election in 1968 brought the Warren Court to an end.

I submit that the proper basis on which we should evaluate the court's performance in this term and in the future is not whether it reaches "conservative" or "liberal" results in constitutional cases, but whether it reaches results that are faithful to the Constitution as written and understood at the time of its adoption. Likewise, the test for presidential candidates on the judiciary should be whether they can be trusted to nominate justices who will follow our written Constitution. Read on @ Wall Street Journal

Charge It to My Kids

The struggle against radical Islam is the fight of our generation. We all need to pitch in — not charge it on our children’s Visa cards. Previous American generations connected with our troops by making sacrifices at home — we’ve never passed on the entire cost of a war to the next generation, said Robert Hormats, vice chairman of Goldman Sachs International, who has written a history — “The Price of Liberty” — about how America has paid for its wars since 1776.

“In every major war we have fought in the 19th and 20th centuries,” said Mr. Hormats, “Americans have been asked to pay higher taxes — and nonessential programs have been cut — to support the military effort. Yet during this Iraq war, taxes have been lowered and domestic spending has climbed. In contrast to World War I, World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam, for most Americans this conflict has entailed no economic sacrifice. The only people really sacrificing for this war are the troops and their families.” Read more of Thomas Friedman @ New York Times

An escape for a cloudy weekend...

Dead Poets Society-3

Why do I stand up here?

Why veto a popular health-care bill?

GEORGE BUSH has some fight left in him and he has chosen a thankless battle. On Wednesday October 3rd the president vetoed legislation that would have reauthorised and expanded the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which provides health-care insurance to more than 6m poor children.

It is a popular programme and the bill passed the House and Senate with robust bipartisan majorities. So Mr Bush’s veto—it is only his fourth—has done nothing for his public image. Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, called the veto “heartless” and asked how the president sleeps at night. “It is incomprehensible,” said Ted Kennedy, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts. Some usually reliable allies were less melodramatic but still critical. Orrin Hatch, a conservative Republican senator from Utah, suggested that the president is receiving some bad advice. Read on @ The Economist...

Picks of the Week

College Football

No. 10 Oklahoma vs. No. 19 Texas = Sooners take out their frustrations on the Horns.
#9 Florida at #1 LSU = Can the Gators rebound in Baton Rouge...my heart is with UF but Tigers win.
Notre Dame at UCLA = The Irish eyes will weep in the Rose Bowl as Bruins win.
#25 Nebraska at #17 Missouri = Can the Tigers be for real...Yes, with a win against the Cornhuskers.
Kansas at #24 Kansas State = The battle for the Big 12 is in Kansas...what is the world coming too...Wildcats win!

The National Football League

Seattle at Pittsburgh = A repeat of Super Bowl XL opponents with the same result, Steelers win!
Chicago at Green Bay = Bears feeling black and blue as the Pack goes to 5-0
Cleveland at New England = Browns put up fight but the talented Pats stay undefeated
Jacksonville at Kansas City = Jags get a tough win @ Arrowhead Stadium
San Diego at Denver = The Charge has left SD as Broncos dominate in the Rockies

Any thoughts from fellow Prognosticators?!

The Arctic's alarming sea change

The Arctic ice cap shrank so much this summer that waves briefly lapped along two long-imagined Arctic shipping routes, the Northwest Passage over Canada and the Northern Sea Route over Russia.

Over all, the floating ice dwindled to an extent unparalleled in a century or more, by several estimates.

Now the six-month dark season has returned to the North Pole. In the deepening chill, new ice is already spreading over vast stretches of the Arctic Ocean. Astonished by the summer's changes, scientists are studying the forces that exposed one million square miles of open water, or 2.6 million square kilometers, beyond the average since satellites started measurements in 1979.

At a recent gathering of sea-ice experts in Fairbanks, Alaska, a geophysicist summarized it this way: "Our stock in trade seems to be going away." Scientists are also unnerved by the summer's implications for the future, and their ability to predict it.

Complicating the picture, the dramatic Arctic change was as much a result of ice moving as melting, many say. A study led by Son Nghiem at NASA, and appearing this week in Geophysical Research Letters, used satellites and buoys to show that winds since 2000 had pushed huge amounts of thick old ice out of the Arctic basin past Greenland. The thin floes that formed on the resulting open water melted quicker or could be shuffled together by winds and similarly expelled, the authors said. Read more @ International Hearald Tribune

Hounding the Bloggers

More vileness from Burma:

The government has called upon state-run media agencies and government supporters to publish photographs of citizen journalists and take action against them.

George Packer writes about the suddenly iconic image of the murdered monk, posted above and here:

How this particular monk came to be lying face down in a Rangoon stream is not known. But the picture—reminiscent, in a way, of others from places like Rwanda, Iraq, Cambodia, and Nazi Germany—shows totalitarianism in its most physical form: the elimination not just of an individual’s life but of his value. Aye Chan Naing, D.V.B.’s executive director, told me by phone from Oslo that as many as six thousand Burmese, the majority of them monks, have been detained in four locations around Rangoon, and their fate is uncertain. After nightly raids, the monasteries are “totally empty,” and he fears the worst for the detainees.

If you are moved by this you may consider to sign the petition.

Face of the Day

A toy factory worker in Guangdong Province China, as photographed by Michael Wolf.

Peggy Noonan's Open Eyes

A money passage from Andrew Sullivan I've long enjoyed Peggy Noonan's work (except for one dreadful book even she must regret writing). I don't always agree with her, but she represents for me that brand of blue-state conservatism that came of age in the Reagan era, one that was often Catholic (though not dogmatically so), repelled by the bile of the far left, respectful of religion and tradition but very much at ease with the modern world, often urban and ethnic, and very susceptible to the charm and rhetoric and deep seriousness of Reagan. I guess she reminds me of my mum and sister. These kinds of conservatives are meritocrats. They were much more Reagan than Bush. And they are deeply distrustful of dynasty and inheritance. They're not country club Republicans. But they're not Dobsonites either. And they don't always vote for the party of the right.

The idea of America being run by two families for two decades is anathema to such conservatives, as it is to many liberals. There is something inherently corrupting about it - not just corrupting of them, but corrupting of us. The experience of such power - presiding over the most powerful nation in modern history - cannot but corrupt; and our decision to delegate real decisions to various royal families while boning up on the latest news from Britney Spears is a sign of real decadence. In a war this dangerous, it's positively reckless, especially given the vast new neo-monarchical powers this administration has seized and will, in large part, bequeath to the next president. We have learned how one such succession has worked out. We should be extremely leery of another, especially since so many in the Washington establishment have already decided that this race is over, and it is now the voters' job to crown the next-in-line for the throne. So give Peggy a few minutes of your time today:

Barack Obama has a great thinking look. I mean the look he gets on his face when he's thinking, not the look he presents in debate, where they all control their faces knowing they may be in the reaction shot and fearing they'll look shrewd and clever, as opposed to open and strong. I mean the look he gets in an interview or conversation when he's listening and not conscious of his expression. It's a very present look. He seems more in the moment than handling the moment. I've noticed this the past few months, since he entered the national stage. I wonder if I'm watching him more closely than his fellow Democrats are.

Mr. Obama often seems to be thinking when he speaks, too, and this comes somehow as a relief, in comparison, say, to Hillary Clinton and President Bush, both of whom often seem to be trying to remember the answer they'd agreed upon with staff. What's the phrase we use about education? Hit Search Function. Hit Open. Right-click. "Equity in education is essential, Tim . . ."

You get the impression Mr. Obama trusts himself to think, as if something good might happen if he does. What a concept. Anyway, I've started to lean forward a little when he talks.

Read on @ Wall Street Journal

Worker Safety - The Triangle Fire Legacy

The following is the lesson in Economics class for Friday, October 5th.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911 was a turning point for employee health and safety protections in the U.S. You will investigate the Triangle tragedy and how its impact is still felt today. Identify eerie parallels between the Triangle Fire and more recent workplace events with safety implications – recent complaints of Wal-Mart employee lock-ins, a deadly fire in a North Carolina poultry processing plant in 1991, and a 1993 fire in a Thailand toy factory given the sad distinction of most deadly industrial fire in the world. How can future tragedies be prevented in the workplace? Assess the costs, benefits and effectiveness of various government and labor actions. You will discover that worker safety is a complex issue and there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

Following links to gather information on the worst industrial fire in U.S. History:
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire: 1911

In addition to the links already provided for the Triangle Fire, you will use the following links for information on more current cases.
Case 1: Wal-Mart Lock-Ins. 2003
Workers Assail Night Lock-Ins by Wal-Mart

Case 2: Kader Industrial Fire. 1993
Thai Toy Factory Fire

ILO Report on the Fire at the Kader Industrial Co. Ltd Factory

Next look at the issue of Sweatshops in the modern world by answering the following questions by clicking Sweatshop Watch.
1. Why do sweatshops exist?
2. How does this affect garment workers?
3. When workers demand their rights what is likely to occur?
4. Does the US and International Community have laws that protect such workers?

Visit and create a List What You Can Do…

Bush Vetoes Bill to Expand

BUSH VETOED A BILL that would have dramatically expanded children's health insurance. It's the fourth veto of his presidency, and one that Republicans fear could carry risks in next year's elections.

Democrats in Congress vowed to try to override the veto, though it appears unlikely that the House will have the necessary two-thirds support to do so. While House Democrats say they are within about 13 to 15 votes of being able to override the veto, top Republicans in the chamber say they are confident they will be able to stop the effort. Read on @ Wall Street Journal

GOP Is Losing Grip

Deficit Hawks Defect
As Social Issues Prevail;
'The Party Left Me'

The Republican Party, known since the late 19th century as the party of business, is losing its lock on that title.

New evidence suggests a potentially historic shift in the Republican Party's identity -- what strategists call its "brand." The votes of many disgruntled fiscal conservatives and other lapsed Republicans are now up for grabs, which could alter U.S. politics in the 2008 elections and beyond.

Some business leaders are drifting away from the party because of the war in Iraq, the growing federal debt and a conservative social agenda they don't share. In manufacturing sectors such as the auto industry, some Republicans want direct government help with soaring health-care costs, which Republicans in Washington have been reluctant to provide. And some business people want more government action on global warming, arguing that a bolder plan is not only inevitable, but could spur new industries. Read on @ Wall Street Journal

Clinton Widens Lead In Poll

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has consolidated her place as the front-runner in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination, outpacing her main rivals in fundraising in the most recent quarter and widening her lead in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

For the first time, Clinton (N.Y.) is drawing support from a majority of Democrats -- and has opened up a lead of 33 percentage points over Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.). Her popularity, the poll suggests, is being driven by her strength on key issues and a growing perception among voters that she would best represent change. Read on @ Washington Post

Who Likes Hillary Clinton, and Who Doesn't?

Americans' opinions about New York Sen. and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton mirror the underlying partisan divide in the American population today. According to an analysis of a special aggregated sample of more than 7,000 interviews in which Americans were asked to rate Clinton, all conducted between June and September of this year, the public is split precisely down the middle when asked whether its opinions of Clinton are favorable or unfavorable.
Forty-eight percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of Clinton, while 48% have an unfavorable opinion. Only 4% don't have an opinion of Clinton, making her one of the nation's most well-recognized (and polarizing) political figures.

But just who is most likely to have a favorable opinion of Clinton, and who is least likely to have a favorable opinion? See The Gallup Poll

The Economics of Professional Sports

The Economics lesson for Tuesday and Wednesday, October 2nd and 3rd...see below.
The Economics of Professional Sports: If You Build It, Will They Come? Read through the two articles from the following websites and evaluate the author's arguments.
List the arguments for and against Professional Sports as a tool of economic development.
Consider the following questions as you read:
1. What are some of the "economic impact" arguments against the public financing of stadiums and franchises?
2. What are some of the "economic impact" arguments for the public financing of stadiums and franchises?
3. What are some of the non-financial benefits of local professional sports franchises?
Article 1: Professional Sports Facilities, Franchises and Urban Economic Development
Article 2: What Are the Benefits of Hosting a Major League Sports Franchise?

Surveillance Showdown... "Privacy" zealots want America to forgo intelligence capabilities during wartime.

Would any sane country purposefully limit its ability to spy on enemy communications in time of war? That is the question Congress must answer as it takes up reform of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Privacy activists, civil libertarians and congressional Democrats argue that both foreign and domestic eavesdropping must be subject to judicial scrutiny and oversight, even if this means drastically reducing the amount of foreign intelligence information available to the government, without ever acknowledging the costs involved. It is time the American people had an open and honest debate on the relative importance of privacy and security.

FISA, of course, is the law regulating the government's interception of "electronic communications" for foreign intelligence purposes. Earlier this year the special FISA court narrowed dramatically the National Security Agency's ability to collect overseas intelligence under the law, so Congress passed a six-month amendment before its August recess to allow current surveillance programs to continue. That amendment should be made permanent. Continue to read @ Wall Street Journal

Iraq until at least 2013?

During the debate, she rarely came out of a defensive crouch, as if determined to protect her favored position. Answering the first question, she said her goal would be to withdraw all American troops from Iraq by 2013, but "it is very difficult to know what we are going to be inheriting" from the Bush administration, so she cannot make any pledge...read more of David S Broder @ Washington Post

9/11 Is Over

Not long ago, the satirical newspaper The Onion ran a fake news story that began like this:

“At a well-attended rally in front of his new ground zero headquarters Monday, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani officially announced his plan to run for president of 9/11. ‘My fellow citizens of 9/11, today I will make you a promise,’ said Giuliani during his 18-minute announcement speech in front of a charred and torn American flag. ‘As president of 9/11, I will usher in a bold new 9/11 for all.’ If elected, Giuliani would inherit the duties of current 9/11 President George W. Bush, including making grim facial expressions, seeing the world’s conflicts in terms of good and evil, and carrying a bullhorn at all state functions.”

Like all good satire, the story made me both laugh and cry, because it reflected something so true — how much, since 9/11, we’ve become “The United States of Fighting Terrorism.” Times columnists are not allowed to endorse candidates, but there’s no rule against saying who will not get my vote: I will not vote for any candidate running on 9/11. We don’t need another president of 9/11. We need a president for 9/12. I will only vote for the 9/12 candidate.

What does that mean? This: 9/11 has made us stupid. I honor, and weep for, all those murdered on that day. But our reaction to 9/11 — mine included — has knocked America completely out of balance, and it is time to get things right again. Continue with Thomas Friedman @ NYT