MEPP BS

This headline in the Boston Globe makes my BS detector go off. Does anybody with a brain believe that, say, Saudia Arabia, cannot begin to liberalize until the current intifada is over? Or the Israelis are talking to a newly elected PA leader? Give me a break.

Busy

Personal life intruding on the blogging. And tomorrow I'm off to NY again for the week.

Retief

Inspired by The Diplomad, I've dug out my small collection of Keith Laumer stories of Retief and the CDT. I was appalled to re-discover that CDT is the acronym for Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne. Will, oh my God, French become the official language of diplomacy? Is it already? Say it ain't so!

The Perry Head

Sometimes Lileks makes me laugh out loud.

On a distantly related note, EW also has this letter about the “Alexander” cover: “When I saw your cover, I excitedly showed my husband what I intelligently discovered: that the first letter of the three last names Jolie, Farrell, and Kilmer spells JFK, which Oliver Stone also directed. Was this intentional or a coincidence? It was probably intended, since it wouldn’t have been possible if the actors were different. How neat!”

That deserves the chastening stare of the Perry Head, I’m afraid.

And here it is:

Multi-culti Part 2

The EU Observer notes the statement by the leader of the German opposition party that "multiculturalism is failing." Curious - yesterday I heard Michael Savage rant about his new "nationalism" and pin it to borders, language, and culture. In Germany:

A new immigration law will come into force on 1 January. It foresees compulsory language courses for new arrivals to the country.

Let's see how this develops in the hope that the identification of the 'other' as the enemy of the homeland doesn't arise - the world has already been there, done that. But if you are here by choice, you are here because it is better than where you were, so why not embrace the language and the culture?

Pediatric bioethics

I heard briefly about this yesterday. The sample questions in the article are not impressive in view of the Groningen Protocol. This bears further watching.

Sailing around the world

If you haven't heard, there is a solo around the world sailing race going on - The Vendee Globe. Click on 'Rankings and Positions' on the left, then the map in the upper right for a nice perspective. Videos from the skippers can be seen by clicking on the 'All Videos' link on the right of the main page. I particularly like 12/4 videos by Nick Moloney and Conrad Humphreys. They're down in the roaring 40's rounding the Cape of Good Hope.

VDH

This is why he gets my vote as the Best Essayist.

The Princess Bride

I recently saw The Incredibles for the second time, and again I kept waiting for Robert's boss to shout "Inconceivable!". The voice is that of Wallace Shawn, he of Vizzini fame in The Princess Bride. So he's done 2 major pieces and both have been hugely popular, maybe he's the common thread? Or maybe he's so recognizably Vizzini that he's had no work since The Princess Bride? But a check of his work is surprising. I'd remembered his role in The Haunted Mansion, but how about 3 appearances on Deep Space Nine? Or movies The Curse of the Jade Scorpion? My Favorite Martian? Clueless? She's Out of Control? We're No Angels? Voices in Toy Story and Toy Story 2? The man has been busy!

The Groningen Protocol

By now everyone has heard about what is happening in the Netherlands. When I was much younger, my girlfriend at the time worked at a state facility for the severely retarded up on the Canadian border. I made one visit to her workplace and it was heart wrenching. My respect for her and the others who worked there is unbounded.

That said, the inmates were also undeniably people - some fun to be with, some to be avoided whenever possible. And the families, while they had determined that they could not provide care for the son/daughter/sibling at home, still came and sat, or pushed a wheelchair.

I sometimes say to myself, "Thank God I don't have that particular cross to bear" (I am the father of 3 healthy children), but I like to think that given the challenge, I would grumble "It's not fair!" and then try to do my best, because that is all we can do.

We don't kill them.

Robocop

This is too cool. The Talon is armed and on duty. HT to James Taranto. See the full Wired article here.

We have a winner...

Well, sort of. Dino Rossi has been certified by the Secretary of State. According to the article, the next step is to send the results to the legislature for the final touch. In an odd move, Governor Locke is transitioning both candidates, apparently, and probably correctly, believing that the election is not over. But what is worse is the demand for a hand count, with its attendant higher error rate. The results will get smudgier and blurrier, and rejection by either side of the hand count results will carry more weight than rejection of the already completed mechanical recount. I'm embarrassed by both of the candidates, who should be showing some leadership and adulthood, but it is Gregoire who in this case needs to back down. And let's just leave John Kerry's interest aside.

On second thought...

The French broadcasting authorities come to their senses, with a little help. They ask the French Supreme Court to stop Al-Manar from spreading ignorant nonsense across Europe.