Protect your Country, Forget your Family

The words reason and logic do not often apply when you talk about the military. This '>story from the Chicago Tribune certainly exhibits that. I love the fact that this soldiers emergency didn't "rise to the level of emergency leave." So this guy is in Iraq, protecting our country, but when it comes to his family well that is just ridiculous to think he might want to see his newborn through a rough birth. Oh well, I guess he is better off getting shot at in Iraq.

You are how old?

The picture above was taken by Stephanie Sinclair in Afghanistan. It was deemed picture of the year by UNICEF. This picture is meant to bring to light the issue of child brides throughout the world. I understand preserving your culture, but when it comes to destroying a young girls life, I don't think you can make an argument for it.

Stop Snitching: It's New but in no way Improved

The culture of crime in Baltimore sometimes never ceases to amaze me. This city is a host to a number of problems: unemployment, vacant housing, drugs, and crime. All of this issues are interrelated, and solutions to these problems are tied to the economics of a city in change. It used to be a blue collar city, with a large manufacturing base. Baltimore is now trying to attract a new breed of urban professional into the newly developed/ing inner harbor. I think the first thing you have to do in order to draw in this crowd is by assuring their safety.

Having said that, I was rather disturbed when I was made aware of this campaign in Baltimore called "Stop Snitching". In essence, don't report crime that you witness because it somehow goes against code of the hood. 60 Minutes did a segment with rapper Cam'ron, where he was very explicit in his disdain for snitches. What did this stem from? I would assume a distrust of law enforcement in low -income neighborhoods that have been ill treated by law enforcement at some point in time. But does it justify what you see in the video below?




I don't know whether to laugh, cry, or hit someone. The Sun and ABC here in Baltimore have more on it. What it comes down to is respect for the law, and criminals don't respect the law and they are trying to force law-abiding citizens to turn away from it. Here's a link to a local Fox report on the newest DVD.

Losing the Lieutenants

If you want to read an excellent article about long-term effects the Iraq war is having on future military leadership, read this article for the Washington Monthly. While he focuses on the Army, this situation is going to play out across all of the U.S. Armed forces. With attrition rates as high as they are, it will prove very difficult to reload our forces, or grow them as some war hawks suggest.

Paging Dr. Paul

Ron Paul, Presidential candidate, congressman, doctor, could he also be the next coming? Dr. Paul raised over six million dollars yesterday, in commemoration of the Boston Tea party, which was the biggest one day pull of all time. He previously raised over four million, which puts him at the head of the pack for Republicans. What impresses me even more is the fact that the people that organized this, and the majority of his other events are independent of his campaign. His revolution is drawing a wide swath of individuals from all walks of life. He isn't a populist, or an interventionist, or any other ist you could come up with. He is a hands off, small government, low to no taxes libertarian. While I don't agree with his whole gold standard monetary policy. I do agree with his foreign policy, specifically with respect to Iraq. He wants to pull out or troops,and tramp down on the rhetoric against Iran. Now tell me why ideals such as that don't have a fair shot in the Republican race? Check out this video below, it is from Google's speaker series, and it is just Mr. Paul telling it like it is.

Bupe on the Streets

News flash: A legal drug being used by addicts illegally. This hits Baltimore pretty hard, because a good number of addicts here use heroin. The Sun has continuing coverage of this new version of hill billy heroin.

A Great Landmark

We went to the new Landmark theater tonight and saw Ian McEwan's Atonement. First to the movie. Very true to the book, I suggest you read it, and was worth seeing. The theater itself is very swank, it has a bar and all of the accouterments that a discerning movie goer desires. The leather seats are a plus as well. It is right in the middle of several restaurants, including my favorite, Lebanese Taverna.

Travel by Trolley

I recently received a online survey about the proposed trolley service along the Charles Street corridor. The Charles Street Development Corporation is a major force behind this, and on its face it appears to be a good idea. Public transportation in this city is spotty, according to the two people I know that use it on a regular basis. There is no central hub of activity, unless you consider that stop right outside of the First Mariner arena.

Baltimore is trying to draw a young, urban professional class, back to downtown. The first thing they have to do is provide an easy to use, and accessible form of transportation to the business district. Let's hope that it won't take years for this to come to fruition. Check out the proposed map.

Friday Fun

So picture yourself on a plane, in route to a wonderful European destination. You got to the airport five hours early, you made it through security (no thanks to the idiot ahead of you who decided to carry on his hunting knife), and you have a great playlist to rock out to on the plane. You have reached your cruising altitude and all electronic devices have been approved for use, so it is time to just sit back and relax. Think again, because this dude just decided to freak out, more accurately he thinks he is going to die. Needless to say, he probably won't be allowed on a plane anytime soon. Can you imagine having to sit next to this nutjob throughout the flight.

Flesh Eating Rats

Now that we are getting close to the Iowa primaries, candidates are starting to get personal. But I am glad there are individuals that still have a sense of humor, check this spoof ad out.

Mighty Mouse

Scientist in Japan have engineered a mouse that does not fear its mortal enemy, the cat. You have to see the video to believe it. What will they come up next, cats that love dogs, or that glow in the dark?

Econmist's call

The speech Mitt Romeny gave last week was telling. In it he said: “freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom…freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone.” So the proposition is if you don't have religion, you can't have freedom. I think this article from the Economist does much better in explaining this.

P.S.
Mitt picked up a big endorsement from The National Review, read it because it makes a good case for him being the best qualified Republican candidate. I think the Huckaboom will happen sooner or later, and the Republicans will step in line behind Mitt.

Hazed and Confused

With this weird weather, I thought I would take a photo. This one came out pretty cool, and it is out of my window. Eat your heart out Sullivan!

Torture is Torture is Torture

Today a subcommittee for Senate Judiciary held a hearing on detainee treatment and trial procedures. Most of the debate swirled around the inability for the current system to try the detainees that are being held in Guantanamo. To date, there has only been one person tried, and Mr. Hicks has been sent back to Australia, to serve a ninth mont h sentence. During the questioning, the democrats focused on detainee rights with respect to haebeus, and the use of evidence that wouldn't be used in a American court of law.

One person that was missing from this hearing was Colonel Morris Davis. Col. Morris who was until recently the Chief Prosecutor of military commission at Guantanamo, but resigned when he became frustrated by ineffective system, lack of progress, and political pressure. He was invited to participate in a panel, but was ordered by the Secretary of Defense to not go. His point of contention was the use of torture in providing evidence against the the detainees. Listen to this interview from today on Canadian radio, click on Part II. I like when the interviewer asks why he was allowed to talk to her, but not with the senate. You be the judge.

What this debate comes down to is torture and its legality in the pursuit of information. Specifically the use of "enhanced" techniques such as waterboarding and stress positions. I think Andrew Sullivan said it well today when he spoke about the breaking of human will. Even though people have been debating this subject, I think you should see what it looks like, the video is graphic so you have been warned. Yes, this is from Al Gore's Current tv network, but I think it is an accurate representation.

Music Musings

I just ran across Paolo Nutini while listening to Lastfm. It is a good music streaming service, and of course they are always recommending similar artists and the like. I got his live EP from the Isle of White Music festival, and it is exceptionally good. The song below is the big single, and soulfully catchy. I am sure they will be pushing him here in the states before long, so be on the look out. For those of you who are not YouTube masters, you can click on the little menu button, and see video associated to him.

If You Build it, They Will Come

I have been following politics since I was a babe. I love political season, the crisp autumn air, the millions of dollars raised, and the inevitable character assassination that we have all come to love . The ads can be terrible/election losers, so so, funny, or brilliant (very few fall in the last category). The ad for Barrack Obama below is one of the best I have ever seen. No matter your political persuasion, you have to admit it is evocative and makes you want to wave the flag! It isn't trying to scare you with mushroom clouds, terrorist, and WWIII which is always nice.

Someone shrank B-More

I know that I don't often portray this city in a great light, but even the doll makers have a great view of the city.

Radiohead changing the rules of the game

A couple of months ago, Radiohead released their most recent record, In Rainbows. I am not the biggest fan of Radiohead, but I am a fan of how they were able to sell the cd. They are no longer affiliated with a record label, so they recorded, and produced the album, and put it up on a website, and you choose your own download price. Of course you have those people out there that paid the $0.00 amount, but other groups in support actually paid a boatload for it. I am sure it is easy for a band with the huge commercial success of Radiohead to do something like this, but I think it is a great initiative. It takes out several layers of the music industry, bringing down the cost of the music for the customer. I am all for that. The record itself is pretty good by the way.

One Religion to Divide them All

Yesterday Mitt had to give the speech that I am sure he has been dreading. The "My religion doesn't disqualify me from being President" speech. To be truthful, I don't care what religion the person is, as long as they can carry out the duties of the President, and protect the ideals of the U.S. Constitution. Having said that, the cartoon comes from my home town editorial cartoonist Jim Borgman. I do like what Fred Thompson said about this subject. Essentially, I only do the church as a pro forma thing, but don't question me because I am not going to talk about it. Although when you can use the religion issue to divide and conquer, I guess the other candidates figure why not? And, if you want to hear what Hitchens has to say, which I agree with, check it.

The Wire in the Early Days

My only knowledge about Charm City before moving up here came from The Wire. Hands down, one of the best television shows I have ever seen. It really puts you there on the streets, in the police precints, and local government. The characters are all so very flawed, but you are still rooting for some of the bad guys in the end. They just finished shooting their fifth and final season for HBO, and I have no doubt it will be worth seeing. I was trolling the nets, and found these links off of Metafilter, some earlier views of three of the main series characters: Prop Joe, Young Omar, and Bunk & McNulty. They take you to Amazon, but the videos are right there.

Memo to the President

For a time, I was a big fan of Thomas Friedman. He reads easily, and his use of analogy helps people understand what is going on in the Middle East. I lost a bit of respect for him once he caught his case of six monthitiss. His predictions always took place six months in the future, and they typically didn't come to fruition. Having said that, I like this little memo he sent to the President on behalf of the Iranian president. It makes sense, and there are no six month predictions.

Baltimore vs. Rio: A tale of two cities

It wasn't until I moved to Baltimore, that I realized what a demoralizing factor crime can be in a city. Back in the VA, I didn't worry about walking down a dark street or ally. The only time I saw homeless person is when I went to D.C. for work. Now I can't go that far without watching someone who is either high, coming off a high, or looking for a high. The drug trade in this city is ridiculous, and if the blue cameras are any indication of this, it won't be going away anytime soon. The drug trade brings the violence, and if you haven't been keeping track of the number people murdered in the city, you can always check here.

I thought this city was semi-hopeless, then I saw this article on Rio de Janeiro. If we thought crime was bad in our fair city, we don't hold a candle to this city. While it is a city of several million, the poverty, corruption, and crime. The police are fighting the drug gangs, and seem to become more of a terror, than a barrier to it. Check out the article, and if you want to see a movie about corruption in Brazil check out Manda Bala. Although Rio is much better looking, hands down!

First they came for the VFW, then they will come for You!

Having lived with a libertarian for a couple of years, I came to realize that classic liberalism is not the answer to everything. I even adopted some of the states rights views that libertarianism holds dear to its heart. Let us not forget that this great country of ours was founded by a Union of States, and not by the Federal government. Once and a while I would pick up my room mate's Reason magazine, and find myself agreeing with some of the stuff they were saying. Non-interventionist foreign policy, small federal government, and states rights issues. This was all the good stuff our founding fathers loved, minus the whole slavery part. Anyway, I like to hit up Reason's blog, and they also have this project with Drew Carey, where he talks about these issues anecdotally. Watch below, and if you think the actions of the Dallas police department were unjustified, maybe you have a little libertarian living inside of you!

Oh Wolfy, I missed you So

The State Department, and specifically Madam Secretary Rice have yet to learn one of the great lessons of life. Learn from your mistakes, and you won't end up repeating them. But, it looks like Condi couldn't help herself, and needed to bring one of her buddies back into the sweet folds of the State Department. Mr. "I got my girlfriend a raise" Wolfowitz has been selected to serve on State's International Security Advisory Board who's job is to " advise[] Rice on disarmament, nuclear proliferation, WMD issues and other matters." I am sure he will provide an unvarnished and objective opinion of what is going on around the globe, and maybe kick off another invasion, who knows when Wolfy is involved? Is it better or worse that he replaced Senator Fred Thompson, you be the judge of that one.

War on Drugs: Is Victory Possible?

In Ben Wallace Wells' article from Rolling Stone, he analyzes the cost and benefits of America's thirty year war on drugs. No matter where you stand on the issue of drug legalization, the drug war in my has been a catastrophic failure, and a fiscal boondoggle. In the article he recounts how this country has spent almost a half-trillion dollars in an effort to eradicate drug use and cultivation. Where are we thirty years later? The article speaks for itself. Check out this aggregation website that displays some fun facts on money spent and citizens incarcerated.