Posts Tagged ‘double standards’

Cause and effect

Posted: February 23, 2009 by datechguy in internet/free speech, opinion/news
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We can’t be surprised when we see stories like this:

The Tibetan New Year, or Losar, is normally the most festive holiday of the year, when Tibetans burn incense, make special dumplings and set off fireworks. But this year, Tibetans have declared a moratorium on celebrating their own holiday, saying they will instead observe a mourning period for people killed last year during protests against Chinese rule.

Amazing and I thought everyone loved a holiday!

“Instead of the usual celebrations marked by singing, dancing and other festivities, silence will be observed and butter lamps will be lit in the temples and homes to pray for the deceased,” they announced in a statement last month.

The tactic appears to be driving Chinese authorities crazy. They’re countering with their own campaign of forced merriment, organizing concerts, pageants, fireworks, horse races, archery competitions.

And you VILL haf fun or else:

At Beijing’s Central University for Nationalities, Tibetan students who had applied last year for permission to hold a Losar celebration informed the university recently that they wished to cancel. But the university told them that the party must go on, said a university source who asked not to be quoted by name.

“Celebrating is compulsory,” he said.

And ve haf vays of making you party:

On Feb. 14, a 39-year-old Tibetan monk set off a furor when he walked through a public market in the Tibetan plateau’s Lithang county carrying a photograph of the Dalai Lama and chanting, “No Losar.” Hundreds of people reportedly joined the protests, which continued into the next two days, according to the Dharamsala-based Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy. The group said that Chinese police detained 21 people, some of whom were badly beaten, and that the county has been locked down for the holiday.

Reports say that as many as 20,000 additional soldiers and paramilitary troops have been deployed in Tibetan areas and that in Qinghai province, village leaders were threatened with arrest if they urged people not to celebrate the holiday.

Well its a good think that we are concerned about human rights, aren’t we:

Clinton told reporters covering her tour of Asian nations that human rights violations by China should not stand in the way of cooperation between the two powers on financial, environmental and security crises, The Washington Post (NYSE:WPO) reported.

And we all know how softplaying human rights worked with the Olympics:

Well, advocates of granting the Olympic Games to China all said that having the Games would force the PRC to liberalize. It would be good for human rights, people said. Even Chinese authorities themselves said that the Games would cause them to liberalize!

That was the great selling point.

And what happened? Not only did the Games not have a liberalizing effect; they had the opposite — moving the PRC to crack down all the more. I documented this extensively in a five-part series on this site last August. You can find it in my archive, here.

What a surprise, as the old Cox and Forkum cartoons say: “I’m a communist dictator you fool!”

Update: Darren Hutchinson notices other interesting aspects.

Sunday Random thoughts

Posted: February 22, 2009 by datechguy in baseball, employment, fun, gaming, personal
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I have a job interview tomorrow. The big grey beard is now gone so perhaps the extra 10 years it seems to add to me being shed will help.

Also got a letter from somewhere that I interviewed back in December. Was expecting a straight rejection but instead was informed the position was placed on hold. With endowments drying up I expect a lot more of this.

Today is Washington’s Birthday. Powerline reminds us of a person who actually deserved the amazing praise a nation gave him looks like.

Was at the dollar store day before yesterday picked up The Stark Truth a book on the most over and underrated players in Baseball history. It appears to be the best buck I’ve ever spent on a hardcover book.

Today’s sermon at Mass was one of the most solid I’ve heard in a while. It was on how Christianity is the religion of positive affirmation not waffling. You are obliged not to waffle on belief and morality. Christians and Catholics sometimes forget this.

Romano’s Market has finally entered the 21st century as their web site has gone up written by the young lady at the register who is majoring at Com Si at a local college.

Speaking of Romano’s they are getting ready for the annual St. Patrick’s day Corned Beef rush. That little place will go though thousands of pounds of corned beef and they work like dogs to get it all ready.

Next door to Romano’s is the Ole Time Luncheonette. I mentioned this place before, it actually opened it the middle of the power outages and the ice storms. The last three days they have been packed. The two ladies and their husband that run the place are there seven days. Drive 25 miles to get there and work hard. I sure hope this keeps up. They deserve it.

And their Fish and chips is the best in town. Just in time for Lent.

Speaking of Restaurants, one of my favorites the Boarder Bar and Grille in Leominster. I was informed by a friend that their appetizers (with minor exceptions) are half price weekdays between 3-6 p.m. and after 9 p.m. as well. As they are rather filling I think this will be the way we manage to hit the place every now and then with money tight.

Do you know the sound the plastic container of Hershey Syrup makes when my son is trying to squeeze the last bit out is exactly the same as the sound of my cat coughing up a hairball? We never had that problem with the old cans.

This story at Gateway Pundit about Witchcraft being the fastest growing religion in the country reminded me of this quote from the Screwtape letters:

I have high hopes that we shall learn in due time how to emotionalise and mythologise their science to such an extent that what is, in effect, belief in us, (though not under that name) will creep in while the human mind remains closed to the Enemy [God]. The “Life Force,” the worship of sex, and some aspects of Psychoanalysis may here prove useful. If once we can produce our perfect work–the Materialist Magician, the man, not using, but veritably worshipping, what he vaguely calls “Forces” while denying the existence of “spirits”–then the end of the war will be in sight.

My witch friends (and I mean that literally) might dispute this; but a lot of people are making large mistakes that they will regret for the rest of their deaths.

And if you like Screwtape and John Cleese you just have to find his reading of the Screwtape letters on tape. He is perfect in the role. We sampled it on this post. Four of them on youtube here.

Speaking of error not two days after my son decided on Fitchburg State College we were surprised to get a letter from the Bishop of Worcester recommending Anna Maria. In view of my visit I was astounded and have typed a response. I’ll post it in full after it is mailed and received. I will give you a taste:

We were very excited when Sam was accepted at Anna Maria and even more excited when they offered the largest (in dollars) scholarship of any of the nine colleges that have accepted and attempted to recruit him. We looked forward to the visit to the college and felt pleased that it would expand both his faith and his educational horizons.

Then we actually visited the college.

The rest they say is history.

We are coming closer and closer to the opening of the baseball season. We are also two weeks away from the World baseball classic. I think I must be the only guy who thinks the latter is worthwhile.

The Red Sox open against the Devil Rays. Two years ago that wouldn’t be much of a deal. Now this has a chance to grow to a mini-Sox Yankees as these teams just plain don’t like each other.

And wasn’t that series in the playoffs just first rate?

Played a game called In a Pickle. It was cute but I wouldn’t recommend it with 8 as it is rated for 6. It’s not a bad party game but I don’t think I’d buy it.

And I have a bigotry against games that de-emphasize winning in the rules.

I don’t think I will ever get sick of watching Ken Burns series “The Civil War.”

I don’t think I will ever not be sick of reality TV. If I wanted reality I get plenty of it every day.

And finally we’ve had days of the media nonsense attacking the New York Post on a cartoon that has absolutely nothing to do with race. Now the NAACP has gotten involved and are talking real nonsense. There was a time when the NAACP was the one of the most respected organizations in the US. Their hyperbole shows that those days are long gone.

Arthur Carter Watch Finally a contrary vote:

Posted: February 21, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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I was bemoaning the lack of Arthur votes and viola the administration delivers:

Detainees being held at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan cannot use US courts to challenge their detention, the US says.

The justice department ruled that some 600 so-called enemy combatants at Bagram have no constitutional rights.

Hot Air notices and grins:

Remember how the Left considered Bush a war criminal for taking this exact position? I’d like to see how they square the circle with Obama now. A few like Glenn Greenwald will rip Obama on principle, but the rest will suddenly discover the reasonableness of detaining terrorists and treating them not like burglars but like enemy combatants who have themselves violated Geneva Conventions through their terrorism.

Just as we did in the George Bush administration.

Pair this with the Gitmo news and Arthur gets that needed hit. Carter 9 Arthur 4.

Dissenting Justice continues with his honorable style in comment:

My purpose for engaging this subject arises from my belief that the Left must hold consistent positions and that it must rethink the uncritical approach it took with respect to Obama during the Democratic primaries and the general-election campaign. If McCain (or probably even Clinton) had won the election and began validating Bush’s policies, my fellow liberals would condemn him as Bush III.

In order for our arguments to have legitimacy, we must remain consistent or explain why we shift. If progressives now believe that they overreached in condemning Bush, they should make this clear. If progressives simply wanted to drum Republicans out of power, they have made a mockery of the very values they claim to embrace. Criticism and consistency, rather than partisan defense of “our” candidate, can permit greater accountability. Silence and acquiescence do not. I hope I am not the lone progressive who sees this.

No Kryten for him.

Hell my friend already told me that

Posted: February 21, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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First (Dec 3) there is the known unspoken reality:

You can take this to the bank: Any successful attack on American soil during an Obama administration is going to be wholly owned by not only that administration but the Democratic party.

Next (Jan 16) there is the quiet acknowledgment:

“Obama is now saying how difficult it is going to be to close Gitmo, he is now seeing the same intelligence that President Bush has seen for the last 6 years.”

Then (Jan 25) the ground is prepared:

One would think that the media wants to give cover to the new administration in case it takes say the first terms to decide what to do with these oppressed individuals, dangerous terrorists. It will be interesting to see what happens.

And lo and behold now the Obama administration is telling us that all those stories about Gitmo being the Gulag of our times were just…stories:

A Pentagon report requested by President Obama on the conditions at the Guantánamo Bay detention center concluded that the prison complies with the humane-treatment requirements of the Geneva Conventions. But it makes recommendations for improvements including increasing human contact for the prisoners, according to two government officials who have read parts of it.

Glenn Reynolds notes;

So, kinda like the Katrina stuff, this Guantanamo stink was all just a bunch of political propaganda?

The Other McCain goes snark:

“This is a remarkable achievement,” the president told a press conference Friday. “A mere four weeks ago, Guantanamo Bay was a human-rights catastrophe such as the modern world had never seen. Yet today, through the power of Hope, we have succeeded in making this facility a shining examplar of freedom, a beacon of Change admired throughout the world.”
The amazing transformation, Obama told reporters, would not have been possible without the “tireless labors” of the staff of the newly-created federal Department of Unicorns and Rainbows. . . .

Now if they had talked to Josh who served there like I did years ago they would have already known this. I now wait to see if the left goes Kryten, or retracts their previous comments.

Update Volokh notices:

In the past, objecting to a Gitmo-Gulag comparison was evidence of a “withered moral sensibility,” but I suspect we’re allowed to reject such false equivalencies now.

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