Cartoon Body Count

Here is a website that tries to track the deaths and injuries resulting from Muslim attacks over the Danish Muhammad cartoons

"Total Deaths: 139
Total Injured: 823"

When I find a website tracking Christians' murderous rampages following cartoons of Jesus, I'll let you know.

What Does Globalization Look Like?

Sent by my friend Tom -

Question: What is the truest definition of Globalization?

Answer: Princess Diana's death.

Question: How come?

Answer: An English princess

with an Egyptian boyfriend

crashes in a French tunnel,

driving a German car

with a Dutch engine,

driven by a Belgian who was drunk

on Scottish whisky, (check the bottle before you change the spelling)

followed closely by Italian Paparazzi,

on Japanese motorcycles;

treated by an American doctor,

using Brazilian medicines.

This is sent to you by an American,

using Bill Gate's technology,

and you're probably reading this on your computer,

that use Taiwanese chips,

and a Korean monitor,

assembled by Bangladeshi workers

in a Singapore plant,

transported by Indian lorry-drivers,

hijacked by Indonesians,

unloaded by Sicilian longshoremen,

and trucked to you by Mexican illegals.....

That, my friends, is Globalization.

Watch the law

One of my measurements for how developed a society has become is in the clarity and uniformity of its laws, and how evenly they are applied.

In undeveloped countries, laws serve as tools for the government to control its people. Citizens are kept at the mercy of rulers, knowing that at any time they may have violated rules (since many of them are conflicting or unclear) and it is the prerogative of the government whether or not to prosecute them.

I think of the old Soviet Union, or any number of Banana Republics.

In civil societies, rulers are subject to the laws, and may not apply them as they wish. Rather, justice is blind. The laws are sufficiently clear and enforced evenly. Rex lex - the law is king.

Regarding Singapore's upcoming elections, and the laws covering campaigning:

"Those interviewed were in unison about one thing: The laws are broad enough to allow the authorities to prosecute offenders as and when necessary. Whether they do so, however, is another issue altogether.
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Which begs the question: Exactly what is allowed when it comes to writing about politics and the GE during the election period?
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Such OB markers are difficult to pinpoint, and it's unrealistic to expect the laws to be drafted to address every single situation, said Mr Charles Chong, a member of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Information, Communications and the Arts.

Watch your blog

You might have heard of the bloggers in Singapore that were jailed for "sedition" last year because of critical remarks about Muslims.

Now that elections are coming to our country, bloggers need to be especially alert. During the election period, they may not write about any politicians in a way that either praises or criticizes them, otherwise they will be breaking the law by campaigning on the internet.

Apparently, this also includes reporting on what was said at political rallies.

More guidelines can be found in a newspaper article today:

"So, quite simply, from the time the writ for the GE is issued and until the elections are over, they are legally not allowed to indulge in anything that can be construed as campaigning.
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Nor can blogs conduct 'political advertising' using any medium, including film or video, clarified the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (Mica).
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Welcome to the real world, bloggers.
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'Not only are the majority of bloggers unaware of the laws, I think that they would just continue to assume that what they do or write is within the boundaries,' said blogger Benjamin Lee, more commonly known by his online moniker, Mr Miyagi.
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The coming GE will be interesting because it will be the first since blogs exploded on to the scene and became such a popular mode of exchanging views and information.
.
Those interviewed were in unison about one thing: The laws are broad enough to allow the authorities to prosecute offenders as and when necessary. Whether they do so, however, is another issue altogether.
.
Which begs the question: Exactly what is allowed when it comes to writing about politics and the GE during the election period?
.
Such OB markers are difficult to pinpoint, and it's unrealistic to expect the laws to be drafted to address every single situation, said Mr Charles Chong, a member of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Information, Communications and the Arts.
.
Hiding in cyberspace?
.
Could a blogger, say, write about his favourite Member of Parliament on his blog?
.
'If you do write political content praising or criticising a politician outside an election period, it's not violating the PEA. But if it is during the election period, then you are subject to the laws,' said Mr Siew Kum Hong, the director of Keystone Law Corporation, a law firm
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Still, many bloggers felt it would be possible to hide in the vast anonymity of the Internet, especially if they used sites that were hosted out of Singapore.
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One such site that was set up last "

Carbon Dioxide Hit Record in 2005

This article says that the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere increased almost 1% during the year!

I am not a tree-hugger, but I think the US government (the country that consumes a high percentage of the world's energy) could be doing a LOT MORE to reduce harmful energy usage and stimulate alternative energy development.

Some issues are more important than low taxes, and national and global security is a lot broader than military strength.

"According to NASA, 2005 had the highest annual average surface temperature worldwide since instrument recordings began in the late 1800s."

Islam Fatally Flawed

Interesting that this former Muslim is getting media coverage about the shortfalls of her former religion. While most non-Muslims would probably agree with her, I doubt many Muslims would pay attention. And those that do, would probably attribute it to anti-Muslim sentiment and not listen seriously.

"In a blunt interview on Al Jazeera television last month, Sultan harshly criticized Islam as violent and unfavorably compared Muslims with Jews. In remarks Sunday at her Corona home, Sultan, who said she left the faith after witnessing an act of religious extremism, went even further, saying Islam was beyond repair with teachings that exhorted Muslims to kill non-Muslims, subjugate women and disregard human rights.

'I don't believe you can reform Islam,' Sultan said. Saying Islamic scriptures are riddled with violence, misogyny and other extremist ideas, she declared, 'Once you try to fix it, you're going to break it.'"

Play It Safe Politics

This is a well-written Los Angeles Times opinion article "They can't even win a war of words."

I agree with the sentiment of this writer, but not as a disappointed Democrat. Rather, as a disappointed American. Does politics have to devolve to the level of attacking your opponent while trying to not make any mistakes yourself?

"Yet somehow the Democratic Party still can't do any better than 'America can do better.'

'You can do better' is what you say to a dim child whose grades were even worse than expected. Is this really the Democrats' message to the nation: that we don't need to be quite as pathetic as we now are, though excellence is certainly beyond our reach?

This slogan speaks not of hope but of hopelessness, of scaled-down ambitions, of dreams deferred and dreams denied.

It's the smallness of it that kills me. This nation began with a dream — a crazy, risky, breathtaking dream of freedom, justice and equality. Sure, we've never truly achieved that dream, but for much of the last century, it's been the Democratic Party that has helped keep that dream alive. So how can it be that, today, Democrats don't seem to stand for anything at all?
"

Google is Right on China

Having lived in Asia ten years, I am much less enamored of anti-censorship than the American Congress or the European Press, which are roasting Google and inciting scorn around the Muslim World.

I am much more in favor of regulated expression. I have seen benefits of it in Asian societies, just as I have seen pitfalls of free expression in the West.

This article presents a reasonable view of China's struggles in its regulation of media. Thanks to the recommendation by my friend Randy.

"My view is considerably more sympathetic both to Google and to China and its leaders than is the Internet consensus."