March 2011
89 posts
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Israel vows to raze all illegal outposts built on... →
If parts of this story don’t leave you hopeful and other parts don’t make you want to bang your head against a wall, then I don’t know what to tell you.
To wit:
The government will immediately dismantle all illegal settlement outposts built on privately-owned Palestinian land, with the sole exception of the house owned by slain Israel Defense Forces officer Eliraz Peretz,...
February 2011
88 posts
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“The structural bias against Israel, including a standing agenda item [on...”
– The above quote from Hillary Clinton — regarding the work of the United Nations Human Rights Council — is an interesting one that will undoubtedly raise eyebrows.
I agree with Clinton, but only in part; first, my disagreement:
My sense is that the Human Rights Council acts as it should...
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Glenn Greenwald Slams the Obama Administration on...
[H]ere we have yet another episode where the U.S. imposes standards on the rest of the world — in this case allowing murderous mercenaries to go unpunished — in service of this administration’s overarching, compulsive goal of ensuring that America’s own accused war criminals are never held accountable or even required to have their actions subjected to legal scrutiny....
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What's Wrong With Our Society, 3.4
Finally, MTV returns “Jersey Shore” to its former glory by giving us an episode on the relationship of advancements in science to societal ethics. In particular, as if taking a page out of Francis Fukuyama’s bizarrely alarmist Our Posthuman Future, the show looks closely at some of the dangers of human cloning.
As Fukuyama (2002: 75-76) warns us:
President Clinton’s...
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“Guns save lives, and it’s a constitutional right of our citizens.”
– Oh, thank goodness!
After two days in a row of a lockdown or near-lockdown on my campus due to the threat or perceived threat of a person carrying a weapon, it’s nice to see that legislators in twelve states are considering the virtues of more guns rather than fewer guns on college campuses.
...
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Erdogan speaks out against UN sanctions on Libya →
[Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdogan spoke hours before UN Security Council members were to meet again to discuss ways to punish the Libyan leader for violent attacks against anti-government protesters. Up for consideration are an arms embargo against the Libyan government and a travel ban and asset freeze against Gaddafi, his relatives and key regime members.
“The people are...
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“At some point, Thomas Jefferson realized, you just can’t do business with...”
– An odd way to begin an article on the deaths of four Americans at the hands of Somali pirates, to be sure.
But the question at the heart of the article is a good one: has America reached its breaking point (again) with regard to piracy?
“I think there’s going to be some type of retaliation,”...
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UN draft resolution speaks of Libyan 'crimes... →
The attacks against Libyan civilians may be “crimes against humanity” warranting prosecution by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, according to a draft UN sanctions resolution.
The text, drafted by France and Britain and circulated to other members of the UN Security Council on Friday, also calls for an arms embargo against Libya as well as travel bans and asset freezes...
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mohandasgandhi asked: I would never imply that there is no place for the Jews in the world. That would be completely hypocritical of me, particularly as I come from a long line of Jews and my family shared the common Jewish struggle of displacement. I agree with you. I just thought Gandhi had an interesting perspective and that that quote would get some of my followers to read his entire letter.
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WatchThe good people at Sesame Street make a compelling point about everyday heroism:
You really can be a super hero. Really. It’s easy. Grover will tell you how.
Do something Super today.
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Museveni's Use Of Social Media To Keep Power In... →
What happens when the authoritarian regime — rather than the disaffected people — uses social media to its advantage? This piece on Uganda from The New Republic provides us with an interesting example:
The month of February gave observers of African politics a curious case study in political geography. At one end of the Nile, protesters in Egypt were breaking the chains of...
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Glenn Beck apologizes for comparing Reform Judaism... →
On his February 22 radio show, Beck compared Reform Judaism to “radical Islam,” saying that both were more about ‘politics’ - changing what is outside of oneself - rather than about ‘religion’ - changing what is inside of oneself.
Beck began his Thursday radio show by saying, “I made a mistake on Tuesday and I want to make sure you understand I was...
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WatchIn this Bloggingheads diavlog, Robert Wright and Mickey Kaus discuss AOL, the Huffington Post, and the future of blogging before turning to the revolution in Egypt. But in this particular (very brief) clip, Wright talks about his recent visit to Lincoln, Nebraska to give a lecture and about a brief meeting he had with an intrepid blogger.
Who could he possibly be talking about?
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WatchThis short clip comes at the end of a very interesting Bloggingheads diavlog on the revolution in Egypt. The clip really has nothing to do with that compelling topic, but I had to post it here because it made me smile.
Basically, Henry Farrell and Robert Farley made the decision to talk about Dan Drezner’s new book, Theories of International Politics and Zombies … but then both begin...
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Watch
In part, President Obama had this to say regarding the situation in Libya:
The American people extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of all who’ve been killed and injured. The suffering and bloodshed is outrageous and it is unacceptable. So are threats and orders to shoot peaceful protesters and further punish the people of Libya. These actions violate international...
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Israel to let 300 Palestinians return to West Bank... →
“Because of the current violence in Libya I received a personal request from [Palestinian] President [Mahmoud] Abbas … that Israel allow a number of Palestinians to leave Libya and to enter the West Bank … so Israel will enable 300 Palestinians to enter the West Bank,” Netanyahu said.
…
Netanyahu said Israel’s move was “a mark of our desire for good...
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Obama won't defend DOMA, but he will enforce it →
So … maybe we shouldn’t get overly excited about the Obama administration’s decision not to defend DOMA. Because Eric Holder’s letter also includes the following:
Notwithstanding this determination, the President has informed me that Section 3 will continue to be enforced by the Executive Branch. To that end, the President has instructed Executive agencies to continue to...
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Breaking News: Obama action against DOMA coming →
A well-placed and trusted source tells me that, any minute now, Attorney General Eric Holder will issue a statement announcing that it will no longer defend so-called Defense of Marriage Act lawsuits in court. The source believes DOJ had come to the conclusion that heightened scrutiny would apply, and that these cases cannot be defended in court. A 530d letter has been sent to Congress informing...
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Saif al-Islam Gaddafi: LSE-Educated Man The West... →
As state security forces were reported to be firing relentlessly into crowds of civilian protesters on Monday, and with Gaddafi Jr appearing on television to threaten a civil war in which the regime “will fight to the last minute, until the last bullet”, many of his erstwhile associates were questioning their friendships with him.
The LSE has been quick to distance itself from...
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redlightpolitics asked: I can imagine you walk a very fine line between what you can post/ write about without creating the kind of controversy that could, potentially, jeopardize your academic career.
You know, if you are ever tempted, you could also start an anonymous blog and write to your heart's content, without worrying about repercussions. From my own experience, it can be liberating, and somehow...
You know, if you are ever tempted, you could also start an anonymous blog and write to your heart's content, without worrying about repercussions. From my own experience, it can be liberating, and somehow...
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WatchIf you love zombies or international relations theory, then this is the Bloggingheads diavlog for you!
Plus I guaranteed that this particular diavlog would undoubtedly show up here and I know that Adam Weinstein will hold me to my guarantee.
In all seriousness, though, the production values of this diavlog are quite high, the principle theories of international relations are nicely explained (in...
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Middle Earth According to Mordor →
Given our deep and abiding love of Lord of the Rings and our desire to critically assess absolutely everything from the perspective of the Other so as to avoid any sort of cultural insensitivity, I’m inclined to say that — now that it’s been translated into English — this “re-imagining” of Middle Earth will fill a void in the soul of every American left-leaning...
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Rumsfeld Implies Obama Apologizes for U.S. →
Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld reiterated a common conservative criticism of President Obama on Sunday, implying that the president is embarrassed by the United States.
In an appearance on “State of the Union” on CNN while promoting his recently released memoir, “Known and Unknown,” Mr. Rumsfeld said that Mr. Obama has not improved the nation’s standing in the eyes of the world.
...
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What's Wrong With Our Society, 3.3
I spent some time thinking about how to connect Episode 3 of “Jersey Shore” to philosophy, but I think we can all agree that this episode was really just an extended infomercial for Alcoholics Anonymous.
In the span of about forty minutes:
Deena gets tossed out of a club less than ten minutes after arriving, as she is so drunk that she falls off the stage on which she’s been...
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Deep Thoughts (about Harry Potter and Internet...
When the first Harry Potter book appeared, in 1997, it was just a year before the universal search engine Google was launched. And so Hermione Granger, that charming grind, still goes to the Hogwarts library and spends hours and hours working her way through the stacks, finding out what a basilisk is or how to make a love potion. The idea that a wizard in training might have, instead, a magic...
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The 'cold peace', Israel, and Arab democracy →
Foreign Policy’s Middle East Channel has just given us three lengthy and very interesting pieces on Israeli and Arab democracy that you’ll want to Instapaper for the weekend ahead; they are:
Israel’s Demophobia by Dov Waxman. In a coming era of Arab democratization, Israel must make peace with the peoples of the Middle East—not just their autocratic rulers.
...
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Thinking About Human Dignity
In a recent review essay [gated] devoted to my book, Matthew S. Mitchell offers a critique of one of the stories I tell about a possible non-religious grounding for human rights, effectively one of the central points I’d hoped to make:
[T[hat does not necessarily mean that Kohen’s account of personhood makes a compelling case for dignity. Because he spends so little space in the...
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Does Higher Income Make You More Altruistic?
Tyler Cowen links to what promises to be an interesting paper by Mitchell Hoffman in The Review of Economics and Statistics (not a journal I’d normally pick up). Given my book project on the motivations of moral heroes and given the savagery of the comments regarding Tyler’s posting of the abstract, I’m anxious to read Hoffman’s argument. Here is the abstract:
This paper...
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What if Anthony Burgess had to pay the bills...
Horrorshow drink specials at the Korova Milkbar! What’s it going to be then, eh? Feeling bolnoy? Why not stop by the Korova Milkbar, where you can get milk plus something else? You won’t have to cheest out all your deng, my droogies — with this Groupon, you get FIVE pitchers of milk peeted with vellocet or synthemesc for the price of FOUR!
Interestingly, this Nadsat version of a Groupon...
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Negotiating with Enemies
In response to my post about whether or not Israel ought to be negotiating with groups like Hamas, Squashed submitted the following thoughts:
While negotiating with an “enemy” state doesn’t require a stance on its legitimacy—it at least acknowledges that it’s there and real enough to make high-level negotiation meaningful. If we were to send a diplomat to negotiate...
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WatchIn the following (very short) clip from an older Bloggingheads diavlog between Ussama Makdisi and Stephen Kinzer, there’s a very interesting point that merits some discussion. Both Makdisi and Kinzer treat it as a given that countries must engage with those who are considered their enemies in order for there to be any real hope for peace in the future. The examples they give are all from the...
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Glen Beck Warns Viewers Not To Use Google →
Glenn Beck has told his viewers to do research, but to not use Google, because ‘Google is pretty deeply in bed with the government.’ He points to the fact that Google is having some problems overseas, as well as Jared Cohen. Cohen is Director of Google Ideas, has worked with the State Department, and has played a role in the 2009 unrest in Iran. He also mentions social networking in sinister...
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“Got a problem? Analyze it as cleanly as possible, and then, having seen its...”
– I’m not entirely sure what to make of Robert Wright’s Valentine Day’s missive to B.F. Skinner. I generally find myself agreeing with much of Wright’s writing, but I can’t help feeling like the premise behind this little piece takes a shot at exactly what I do …...
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What's Wrong With Our Society, 3.2: Snooki and the...
MTV made is easier on me, as Episode 2 of the Third Season of “Jersey Shore” literally contains nothing of interest to anyone … except Kantians!
Now mostly it’s about Sammi and Ronnie. They go to church, they go out to eat together, they skip Sunday dinner with the rest of the gang, they fight, they cry, and they question the status of their relationship.
As “Rookie...