Independent Progressive Thought

I just discovered a really irritating feature in this blogging software. If I hit post and publish and cancel the dialog that pops up so I can edit my entry, it clears everything in the editor and there is no way to get it back. The stuff was personal and probably shouldn't go on this blog anyway so I suppose it is just as well.

So much to get upset about today. I was speaking to Saharsha earlier today and he mentioned that increasing the actions of the Dubya seem to be not unlike those of deluded emperors. What is more interesting is that the rest of his family does not seem that far behind. Take the case of his idiot brother Jeb (certainly no more idiot than his brother, arguably less), who has now decided to interfere with the judiciary. In the article, Florida Lawmakers Pass Bill to Save Comatose Woman, Oct 21, 2003, Associated Press Governor Jeb Bush immediately signed into law the legislation passed to keep patients in a persisten vegitative state alive. Admittedly the law is specific enough that it may only be applied in case she does not have a living will and there are family members who oppose the removal of imposed life support.

What is disconerting about all this is not just their position, which as one would expect, is extremely ill reasoned and regressive but the manner in which they went about obtaining this permission. They overruled two decisions by the Florida Supreme Court and one by the US Supreme Court to not hear the appeals, went ahead passed the law and applied it retroactively overruling the court decisions. A case of "Hmmm, I don't like this law, let me help myself to my republican buddies' support and change the law." if I ever saw one. Americans should be upset about this and Floridians up in arms about it.

posted by Nashib @ 9:47 PM

I have just recently started paying attention more critically to the news. I wonder if I should start discussing my opinions or wait a week or two till I am a bit more current with the goings on in the world. I'll start anyway without much analysis which is not to say that the previous ananlysis amounted to much.

The article, Human Rights Watch Documents 20 Civilian Deaths in Postwar Baghdad, Dozens More Reported by Karen Matthews, October 21, 2003, Associated Press brings up the issue of the wrongful killings of Iraqi civilians at the hands of the american forces. I am not sure whether this reporting is really that important. Iraq Body Count provides an estimate of the min or max number of reported deaths since the war began. Is the killing of the Iraqis during the bombing any less wrongful ? On the one hand, it is important for organizations like HRW to keep reporting and have access to the areas affected by war and therefore they cannot take a stance against or for the war but it seems a strange right to have to give up in order to be able to report. I have no answers to what they should do, just more questions.

Unfortunately organizations like the Red Cross have their hands tied as well in this regard. They cannot report on the full extent of a humanitarian disaster, post numbers and so on without the consent of the ruling authorities. They do this in order to be guaranteed access because their first priority is helping the people. However, there must be other powerful multinational organizations that must have a clear and loud voice on their anti war stance. There certainly are some but I suppose their voices are quitened by an increasingly dismissive media.

posted by Nashib @ 10:20 PM

Wow, hard to believe it is five and a half months since my last post. I had just never imagined being that lazy or busy or combination thereof. Weddings are weird things. Very interesting that the perception of some people is vastly changed now that I am married. Several young people for the most part seem to treat us no differently except perhaps a sense of awe that we went through with two elaborate ceremonies and receptions. The best part of it all was the coming together of the two families and the visits by family and friends. It really ended up being so much fun and we felt quite an overpowering sense of anti-climax when it was done with. However in some senses it was a relief because we could stop worrying about little details which were really immaterial in the grand scheme of things but sapped our mental energy nonetheless.

posted by Nashib @ 9:53 PM