a reply to Sergei Baklykov of "Real Russia"How free are Russians to express political disagreement ?e.g.can one publically criticize Putin?

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a reply to Sergei Baklykov of "Real Russia"How free are Russians to express political disagreement ?e.g.can one publically criticize Putin?

Ukrainian Political Violence Spurred by Cultural Divide

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Ukrainian Political Violence Spurred by Cultural Divide

The Daily Political Comic - Sunday, March 16, 2014

GoComics.com – Views of the World by CartoonArts International

The Daily Political Comic - Sunday, March 16, 2014

Christie used Port Authority to turn 9/11 wreckage into political gifts

Just when you thought the list of things New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is now associated with couldn’t get worse, it gets worse:

For a state that lost hundreds of lives on Sept. 11, the gifts were emotionally resonant: pieces of steel from the ruins of the World Trade Center. They were presented by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to 20 carefully chosen New Jersey mayors who sat atop a list of 100 whose endorsements Gov. Chris Christie hoped to win.

At photo opportunities around the mangled pieces of steel, Bill Baroni, Mr. Christie’s top staff appointee at the Port Authority, told audiences how many people wanted a similar remnant of the destroyed buildings, and how special these mayors were.

Can you imagine the scandal that would have erupted if President Obama had given pieces of the Pentagon rubble to Republicans he was trying to woo in his re-election battle? The outrage from the right would be so fierce that Darrell Issa wouldn’t be able to work in a word edgewise about the IRS or Benghazi. Yet when Christie does it, not a peep.

Daily Kos

Christie used Port Authority to turn 9/11 wreckage into political gifts

Christie used Port Authority to turn 9/11 wreckage into political gifts

Just when you thought the list of things New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is now associated with couldn’t get worse, it gets worse:

For a state that lost hundreds of lives on Sept. 11, the gifts were emotionally resonant: pieces of steel from the ruins of the World Trade Center. They were presented by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to 20 carefully chosen New Jersey mayors who sat atop a list of 100 whose endorsements Gov. Chris Christie hoped to win.

At photo opportunities around the mangled pieces of steel, Bill Baroni, Mr. Christie’s top staff appointee at the Port Authority, told audiences how many people wanted a similar remnant of the destroyed buildings, and how special these mayors were.

Can you imagine the scandal that would have erupted if President Obama had given pieces of the Pentagon rubble to Republicans he was trying to woo in his re-election battle? The outrage from the right would be so fierce that Darrell Issa wouldn’t be able to work in a word edgewise about the IRS or Benghazi. Yet when Christie does it, not a peep.

Daily Kos

Christie used Port Authority to turn 9/11 wreckage into political gifts

Science and Reason vs. Political Correctness

President Obama entered office promising to restore the sanctity of science. Instead, a fresh war against science, statistics and reason is being waged on behalf of politically correct politics.

After the Sandy Hook tragedy, the president attempted to convert national outrage into new gun-control legislation. Specifically, he focused on curtailing semi-automatic “assault” rifles. But there is no statistical evidence that such guns — semi-automatic rifles that have mostly cosmetic changes to appear similar to banned military-style fully automatic assault weapons — lead to increased gun-related crimes.

The promiscuous availability of illegal handguns does. They’re used in the vast majority of all gun-related violent crime — and in such cases they are often obtained illegally. Yet the day-to-day enforcement of existing handgun statutes is far more difficult than the widely publicized passing of new laws.

Late-term abortions used to be justified in part by an argument dating back to the 1970s that fetuses were not yet “human.” But emerging science has allowed premature babies 5 months old or younger to survive outside the womb. Brain waves of fetuses can be monitored at just six weeks after conception. Such facts may be unwelcome to many, given the political controversy over abortion. Yet the idea that even small fetuses are not viable humans until birth is simply unscientific.

The president still talks of “settled science” in the global warming debate. He recently flew to California to attribute the near-record drought there to human-induced global warming.

There is no scientific basis for the president’s assertion about the drought. Periodic droughts are characteristic of California’s climate, both in the distant past and over a century and a half of modern record-keeping. If the president were empirical rather than deductive and political, he would instead have cited the logical reasons why this drought is far more serious than those of the late 1970s.

California has not built additional major mountain storage reservoirs to capture Sierra Nevada runoff in decades. The population of the state’s water consumers has almost doubled since the last severe drought. Several million acre-feet of stored fresh water have been in recent years diverted to the sea — on the dubious science that the endangered delta smelt suffers mostly from irrigation-related water diversions rather than pollutants, and that year-round river flows for salmon, from the mountains to the sea, existed before the reserve water storage available from the construction of mountain reservoirs.

The administration has delayed construction of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, citing concern about climate change. Yet a recent State Department environmental report found that the proposed pipeline would not increase carbon dioxide emissions enough to affect atmospheric temperatures. There is no scientific basis from which to cancel the Keystone, but a variety of logical reasons to build it — such as moving toward North American energy independence and protecting ourselves against energy blackmailers and cartels abroad.

Science is rarely “settled.” Instead, orthodoxy is constantly challenged. A theory survives not by politics, but only if it can offer the best logical explanations for a set of circumstances backed by hard statistical data.

Global warming that begat “climate change” is no exception. All the good politics in the world of blaming most bad weather on too much carbon dioxide cannot make it true if unquestioned climate data cannot support the notion of recent temperature increases being directly attributable to rising man-caused carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.

In recent years, “settled science” with regard to the causes of peptic ulcers, the health benefits of Vitamin D, the need for annual mammograms and the prognostic value of the prostate-specific antigen test have all been turned upside down by dissident scientists offering new theories to interpret fresh data.

Yet for the new anti-empirical left, science becomes an ally only when refuting absurd religious theories that the earth is 5,000 years old. Otherwise, it can prove irrelevant when it does not necessarily support pet causes.

Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. His latest book is The Savior Generals from BloomsburyBooks. You can reach him by e-mailing author@victorhanson.com.

RealClearPolitics – Articles

Science and Reason vs. Political Correctness

Obama + Elite Political Class Create Alternative Realities With The Aid Of The Complicit Media

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Obama + Elite Political Class Create Alternative Realities With The Aid Of The Complicit Media

Has the Conservative Political Action Conference Purged the Kooks?

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Has the Conservative Political Action Conference Purged the Kooks?

Has the Conservative Political Action Conference Purged the Kooks?

In the bowels of the National Harbor convention center in suburban Maryland on Thursday, a nonprofit called Empact America schooled attendees about the threat of a terrorist attack by way of an electromagnetic pulse. Former Reagan Defense Department official Frank Gaffney articulated his view that anti-tax activist and American Conservative Union board member Grover Norquist is an undercover agent for the Muslim Brotherhood. Ginni Thomas, a Daily Caller contributor and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, alleged that President Barack Obama may be guilty of providing material support for terrorism. At least one panelist suggested that Speaker of the House John Boehner was a part of the Benghazi cover-up. (Who can say?)

But this gathering of very concerned right-wingers wasn’t an official part of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference underway in the same facility. The panelists were the “uninvited”—a motley crew of conservative activists who had been shunned by CPAC organizers and assembled, for the second consecutive year, as a sort of shadow convention by Breitbart News. After building a reputation for catering to conspiracy theorists and bigots (especially during the first five years of the Obama administration), CPAC, the nation’s largest annual conservative political shindig, seems to have turned down the volume.

That is, CPAC is getting soft.

Just consider the recent history. In 2012, CPAC organizers opened up their conference to folks like John Derbyshire (since fired from the National Review for telling his kids to avoid black people), and the founder of VDare.com, celebrating the first English child born in North America. Last year, Wayne Allyn Root, who attempted to swing the 2012 election by claiming Obama attended Columbia as a foreign exchange student, spoke from a CPAC side stage. Three years ago, Thomas Woods, a founder of the secessionist group League of the South, spoke at a CPAC breakout session and held a book signing. Last year, a Fox News commentator made a rape joke about a rape victim. There have even been CPAC panels on the supposed Muslim Brotherhood takeover of CPAC.

None of these figures appear on the CPAC schedule this year. Nor does Pamela Geller, who once published a scoop claiming that Obama was the secret love child of Malcolm X. She was exiled from CPAC in 2013. Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), a leader of the movement that believes the conservative movement is being co-opted by stealth Islamists, didn’t make the trip this year. Bishop Harry Jackson, who claims gays are trying to “recruit” children, is nowhere in sight, even though he’s from suburban Maryland. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), the Republican party’s most prominent anti-immigrant voice, didn’t get a speaking slot.

Oh, at this year’s CPAC there was still the Georgia man who travels the country dressed up as Declaration of Independence signer Button Gwinnett. There were plenty of bow ties. And two college-age bros walked around in American-flag boxers and boat shoes—which is to say, they walked around like college-age bros. CPAC was still, very noticeably, CPAC. There was the now-annual controversy about refusing to allow an LGBT conservative group, GOProud, to cosponsor the conference. Donald Trump was there, Donald Trumping.

But for the first time in a long while, the lunatics haven’t taken over the CPAC asylum. At least not yet.

Politics | Mother Jones

Has the Conservative Political Action Conference Purged the Kooks?

How Political Parties Destroyed Democracy

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How Political Parties Destroyed Democracy

How Political Parties Destroyed Democracy

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How Political Parties Destroyed Democracy

Hala Shukrallah, the first woman to lead an Egyptian political party, warns against the military involvement in elections

The first woman to head an Egyptian political party has expressed concern that a return to military rule could threaten democracy in a country roiled by three years of turbulence.

Hala Shukrallah, a Copt who now leads the liberal Al-Dostour Party, told AFP the failure of democratic groups to throw up a civilian leadership was benefitting the military, and could also help the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood make a comeback.

“We are asking questions regarding the entrance of the military in a democratic election,” said Shukrallah, 59, when questioned about the possible election of army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as Egypt‘s next president.

“We have the very specific opinion that there is a danger, that this might infringe on the democratic process,” she said in an interview at her party headquarters in central Cairo.

Sisi, the most popular political figure in Egypt after he ousted Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first freely elected and civilian head of state, said Tuesday he “cannot turn his back” on demands that he run for president.

He has yet to formally announce his candidacy, but his supporters say he is certain to win the vote.

Shukrallah, who was educated in Britain, was elected in February to head Al-Dostour, which was formed in 2012 by former vice president and opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei.

Nobel peace laureate ElBaradei quit the military-installed government in August after security forces violently dispersed two sit-ins of Morsi’s supporters in Cairo that killed hundreds.

Shukrallah, a sociologist who was arrested several times in the 1970s and 1980s for her fiery student activism, has helped founding civil society groups fighting for women’s rights.

Her election has been hailed as a positive “change” in Egypt, where Copts — the largest Christian community in the Middle East — and women in general have traditionally faced discrimination.

“Women have been very much in the forefront of (the) revolution and I think that has been clear not only to the people who were part of the revolution… but it has been very clear to the rest of society,” she said, suggesting her election reflected the “shifts” in the society.

‘Brotherhood return possible’ 

Shukrallah said Egypt was still far from achieving any democratic principles.

After three years of tumult, “we are still wondering where is social justice, we are still speaking about what is happening to democratic freedoms and human rights,” said Shukrallah.

“So I think we are facing a challenge. This is a tug-of-war and there are very deep interests rooted within society that are fighting back and that want to maintain the old regime.”

On Saturday, Egypt unveiled a new cabinet led by Ibrahim Mahlab, a former member of the National Democratic Party, the ruling party of Mubarak who was ousted in 2011.

The previous government quit amid increasing unpopularity over its failure to tackle a floundering economy.

Shukrallah expressed concern over the widening government crackdown on dissent by jailing non-Islamist activists, including those who led the anti-Mubarak revolt.

“There should not be some kind of sweeping method in order to stop all kind of protest,” she told AFP.

“If this is the goal, then there is something deeply wrong with how this transitional period is being led.”

A government crackdown targeting supporters of Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood meanwhile has killed more than 1,400 people since the Islamist’s ouster.

Shukrallah dismissed reconciliation with the Brotherhood, accusing it of being undemocratic.

But “if the democratic camp does not strengthen itself, it is very possible that at some point in the future we can again see…the Muslim Brotherhood come back to the political scene… which is a problem,” she said.

If the democratic camp was “strong… we would not have had the need for someone to fill the gap and that being the army.”

tgg-jds/dv/gk/pvh

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/egypt/140305/first-woman-head-egypt-political-party-worried-about-

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Hala Shukrallah, the first woman to lead an Egyptian political party, warns against the military involvement in elections

The Daily Political Comic - Monday, February 24, 2014

GoComics.com – Jeff Danziger by Jeff Danziger

The Daily Political Comic - Monday, February 24, 2014

Germany at Heart of Europe"s Political Predicament; Squaring the Circle; When is the Breaking Point?

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Germany at Heart of Europe"s Political Predicament; Squaring the Circle; When is the Breaking Point?

Jimmy Fallon, Democrat Political Asset...

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Jimmy Fallon, Democrat Political Asset...

Complete News Kenya frontrunners hail from powerful political dynasties

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Complete News Kenya frontrunners hail from powerful political dynasties

The Daily Political Comic - Thursday, January 30, 2014

GoComics.com – Views of the World by CartoonArts International

The Daily Political Comic - Thursday, January 30, 2014

Thai vote goes peacefully, but political paralysis looms

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand went to the polls under heavy security on Sunday in an election that could push the divided country deeper into political turmoil and leave the winner paralyzed for months by street protests, legal challenges and legislative limbo.

Reuters: Top News

Thai vote goes peacefully, but political paralysis looms

For Leftists, the Personal is Still the Political

For Leftists, the Personal is Still the Political
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Here are a few brief thoughts on the controversy surrounding MSNBC’s Twitter feed, in which — in response to a Cheerios ad (!) – the following message was sent out: “Maybe the right wing will hate it, but everyone else will go awww: the adorable new#Cheerios ad w/ biracial family.”

1. This kind of racial slander is the coin of the realm for MSNBC. Its president, Phil Griffin, apologized for the tweet and fired the staffer responsible for it. Fine and good. But it’s not clear why he acted on this occasion and not the hundreds of outrageous libels against Republicans and conservatives that have happened prior to it.

2. This incident demonstrates how for some on the left virtually everything is reduced to politics — even a cereal ad. It reveals an obsession with politics that is distorted and unhealthy. And it’s something that frankly one doesn’t find as prevalent among conservatives, at least in my experience. The slogan popularized during the social revolution of the late 1960s and early 1970s, “the personal is the political,” helps explain this progressive cast of mind. For the left, politics is the primary means toward social progress and fulfillment, whereas for the right, our private lives are considered far more separate and distinct. Conservatives, I think, tend to view politics as important but not as all consuming, which is a far better way to understand life and reality.

3. There’s a cautionary tale in all of this, which is that the right shouldn’t become like the left. Leave the hateful attacks, the venom, and the name-calling to them. Conservatives don’t need it, we shouldn’t want it, and it’s not consistent with our best tradition. If the left wants to give refuge to the haters, then that’s up to them. The right, on the other hand, should be characterized by people who are principled, passionate, decent and who don’t (as Ronald Reagan used to remind his staff) consider our opponents to be our enemies. Some conservatives seem to make a rather good living on doing the opposite, on engaging in ad hominem and often childish attacks, and it’s discrediting to them and to the movement they claim to represent.

Commentary Magazine

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The Political Plight of China’s Wealthy

The Political Plight of China’s Wealthy
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It is in the interests of China’s wealthy and the country’s government to promote transparency.

By Elizabeth C. Economy for The Diplomat

January 26, 2014

Technically, the news that many rich people in China have personal ties to China’s top leaders is not really news anymore. Nor is it news that many rich Chinese have placed their assets in offshore accounts or even that many rich people in China get that way through peddling influence or corruption. After all, the top fifty members of China’s National People’s Congress boast a combined wealth of $ 94.7 billion, making their American congressional cousins across the Pacific – whose top fifty members are worth only $ 1.6 billion – look positively poverty stricken. The link between politics and money in China is well-established.

So why all the excitement over the recent release of a report from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) that 22,000 (out of 1.3 billion) people in China have established offshore companies to hold – or hide – their wealth? Certainly there is the titillation factor. There is always a market for information about the super-rich: how they got their money and how they spend it – particularly when some of the rich are the sons and daughters of senior officials. There is also the issue of the “offshore” accounts in the British Virgin Islands, which to a layperson immediately sound suspicious. Even though every news article on the topic carefully mentions the fact that there is nothing necessarily illegal about these offshore tax havens, guilt is already established in the minds of many. (And, of course, there is some reason for this: a number of senior Chinese officials have already been tried in court and found guilty of using these accounts to hide millions of dollars in embezzled funds.) In addition, amassing personal wealth in China has always been a source of political vulnerability. Despite the obvious attraction of making money for many Chinese, the country’s ideological underpinnings have never fully supported it: it was denigrated by Confucianism and reviled by Communism. During the first decades of Communist rule, to be labeled a “capitalist running dog” meant a life of ongoing vicious political reprisals. Even Beijing’s more recent campaign against several politically outspoken billionaire bloggers carried a whiff of this same witch hunt mentality: questioning the political loyalty of those with money.

What could be seen as surprising, however, is that the Chinese government has gone to such extraordinary lengths to shut down any mention of the report’s findings. Beijing’s much ballyhooed anti-corruption campaign is the signature policy of an otherwise fairly anemic political reform effort by the new leadership. A report that lays bare 22,000 potential corruption cases should be celebrated, not censored. Part of the problem is that President Xi Jinping, himself, is likely unhappy that the face of his brother-in-law has been plastered in the pages of the ICIJ report as one of those with significant offshore holdings. But even beyond any personal considerations, the real challenge for Beijing is that the report represents a substantial loss of power for the Chinese leadership. With transparency comes knowledge – not just for the seven men in the Standing Committee of the Politburo but for the 1.3 billion people they govern. The report offers the Chinese public the opportunity to hold Beijing directly accountable; when the Chinese leadership pronounces the guilt of one official, the Chinese people can ask about one hundred others. By censoring the list, China’s leaders are trying to control who is found guilty and when.

In the end, it is in the interest of both China’s wealthiest citizens and the Chinese government to promote transparency and publication of the list. How else to disentangle the influence peddling inherent in traditional guanxi from meaningful corruption? How else to promote the rule of law and ensure that these 22,000 wealthy Chinese with offshore holdings do not become fodder for politically motivated attacks? And above all, how else to ensure that the Chinese people believe their leaders are holding themselves to the same standards to which they seek to hold everyone else?

Elizabeth C. Economy is C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is an expert on Chinese domestic and foreign policy and U.S.-China relations and author of the award-winning book, The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge to China’s Future.  She blogs at Asia Unbound, where this piece originally appeared.

The Diplomat

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