Reading the title of this post at Mingi Hyun’s page, S. Koreans Say China is the Greatest Threat in the Future, it feels like seeing Luke Skywalker eyeing Boba Fett and saying, “You know, that guy, he’s the one I’m worried about, guys.” And this, with Darth Vader standing in the background, lightsaber at the ready. sigh
Month: April 2006
Can’t Force Democracy
Robert Kaplan points out the error in the Bush Administration’s thinking in an article titled We Can’t Force Democracy. For the average person who just wants to walk the streets without being brutalized or blown up by criminal gangs, a despotic state that can protect him is more moral and far more useful than a democratic one that cannot. … Globalization and other dynamic forces will continue to rid the world of dictatorships. Political change is nothing we need to force upon people; it’s something that will happen anyway. What we have to work toward — for which peoples with …
The New McCarthy?
There’s a piece in the Guardian that was recommended to be by my co-worker Jim, but which slipped my mind until I found the link to the article again on Dan Drezner’s page. It’s a piece by Gary Younge titled Silence in Class, and I have to say that judging by the comments on Drezner’s site, I’m not wholly comforted by his own underwhelmed reaction. At the same time, calling it a “New McCarthyism” might be overdoing it a little. Yes, nasty little groups of rightwing students do report on their professors; this is not a surprise. Yes, some professors …
Airborne Ebola a Good Idea? Get This Guy a Straightjacket, Please!
Here’s a link to an article in The Citizen Scientist about a guy named Dr. Pianka. The guy gave a speech about the need to exterminate over two-thirds of humanity… because we’re wrecking the environment and running out of oil. OIL! Worse, the reporter claims he got a standing ovation after saying we could achieve this with purposeful depoyment of airborne Ebola. The nutcase’s website is here. I can’t believe he was allowed to speak, or that people clapped for him. Report via Blogcritics. UPDATE: I stand happily, though ever so slightly sheepishly, corrected by Adam (see comments section below). …
Portable NPR
Even for those abroad: NPR : Podcast Directory. Too bad they don’t offer This American Life.