Tattered US Flag

Once again a tattered US flag is becoming the symbol of a grieving nation.

I'm tired of this tattered US flag crap, especially the way the one from New York has been taken around the country to open everything form the Salt Lake Olympics to small charity events.

I really hope that this image of the resilience of the US flag - after all, it survived a hurricane when some things and people did not - does not take on the same significance as the last one. I can imagine people thinking that the US flag is so tough, it's way tougher than other nylon flags (especially the old Iraqi flag) and it means that come terrorists or big storms our spirit will not be quenched.

It's all way too boring and annoying.

12. The Opportunity by Richard N. Haass

This book is an extremely high level overview of one possible foreign policy option suited for today's world.

It is refreshing that the author seems fairly non-partisan, condemning Bush's Iraqi mis-adventure and praising Clinton's efforts in Kosovo, for example. This is offset by the fact that he appears to believe that the current administration actually thought there were WMD in Iraq which is why we went to war - am I the only person who knew that there were no WMD in Iraq at the time of the most recent invasion?

In any case, the author calls his approach integration. Generally speaking, he argues that the world and the great powers are faced with a great opportunity to restructure international relations so that they work better. The reason we have such an unprecedented opportunity, according to the author, is that unlike most other times in the past 100 years there is negligible chance that the great powers will go to war against each other in the near term so we can focus all of our efforts on rebuilding.

The author might be correct but the flesh that he puts on the skeleton of 'opportunity' is fairly half baked and not nearly detailed enough. He suggests that we - being the US - begin by getting the current world powers to agree to a set of principles that we feel cannot be breached by any country. He suggests that these principles should be very general and almost no brainers such as, we will not tolerate any country that commits genocide.

He then suggests that the US needs to take a leading role to get the major international powers to buy into these principles by arguing that nations do not need to be as sovereign as they are today, there needs to be greater economic integration, there needs to be more multi-lateralism and there needs to be less dependence on fossil fuels.

The fatal flaw of this book is that the author puts forward a very high minded approach for us to take but he does not account for any of the roadblocks to implementing this approach. In a world that is so self interested that the so called great powers almost ignored genocide in the former Yugoslavia, totally missed the genocide in Rwanda and are doing the same with the Sudan how can someone possibly think that we are ready to aspire to the higher more self-less goals that the author speaks of?

Doppe! Doppe!

That was the cry of the French when Lance Armstrong was climbing the Plateau de Baille in the Summer of 2002. In fact, that has been the cry of many anti-Armstrong cycling enthusiasts for many years now. It now appears that the cry of the French is a step closer to the truth. There is a lot of noise around this issue so let's try to examine the facts as we know them.



Arguments for drug use by Armstrong

1. Traces of EPO found in his 1999 'B' urine samples;
2. The tests were conducted by a credible lab, one of very few labs that has the ability to do EPO tests and is commissioned by the IOC to run some of the Olympic tests;
3. Close association with Dr. Michele Ferrari, the European BALCO, meaning that he used Ferrari as part of his training regime and had a close relationship with him until Ferrari was taken to court;
4. The book L.A. Confidential (which has never been translated from the original French) is a chronicle by a respected English cycling journalist of the things that people who are no longer in Lance's inner circle did to hide the doping, including taking bags of needles and disposing of them;
5. In the 1999 Tour de France Amrstrong tested positive for using a corticosteroid cream which he said was to treat saddle soars;
6. In March 2005 a former assistant claims that he was fired after finding a box of steroids in Armstrong's bathroom.

Arguments against drug use by Armstrong

1. He is the most drug tested athlete of our time and if he was using EPO presumably it would show up in other tests;
2. Many French people hate him so this could easily be a case of an angry lab worker trying to frame him;
3. The French newspaper L'Equipe which revealed the results of the tests has always had an axe to grind with him;
4. His cancer therapy likely required him to take a lot of EPO so it is conceivable, but unlikely according to an oncologist I spoke to, that there would be remnants in his system;
5. The test results revealed by L'Equipe were the results of research, it is unclear if the proper protocols were followed in these tests.

I am a big believer that the simplest answer is generally the right answer. And have long maintained that the simplest answer is not that there is some conspiracy against Armstrong but that he has taken EPO or other drugs from time to time.

I doubt if anything will come of this though. The B sample is not enough, in and of itself, to convict Armstrong and it appears that all his other samples are clean.

11. Islamic Modernism, Nationalism, and Fundamentalism Episode and Discourse by Mansoor Moaddel

My objective in reading this book was to try to get a better understanding of the rise of fundamentalist Islam. As it turned out this book is more sociology than history and as a result I struggled to get through it, not because it was boring but because sociology is a discipline that has so much jargon that it is difficult to read a book like this which offers little in explanations of this jargon.

Nevertheless, as best as I can tell, the author's thesis is that the development of fundamentalist Islam in the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent was not the result of consistent long term economic, social or political changes in the Middle East, rather, the shift from the previous ideology in the Middle East to today's fundamentalist ideology was an episodic discourse that happened sporadically over a period of time.

Unfortunately, I don't know enough about the theories that the author is trying to refute to tell you whether he is right or wrong, what I can say is that he puts forward a fairly compelling analysis to support his thesis.

What I found most interesting about the book is that at some point in the modern era Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Iran all had fledgling liberal democratic regimes that, at least, held power for a short period of time. In Iran, for example, between 1905 and 1911 the country was run as a bona fide constitutional monarchy; in the 10 years prior to the Ba'ath party's take over in both Syria and Iraq both countries were also run as mostly secular democracies; and in the late 1800s the incumbent political party in Egypt was, what the author calls, a liberal modernist Islamic party which was a lot better than what came after it.

In all of these countries the last half century has seen a regression from fledgling liberal democracies to totalitarian Islamic states. The author ascribes a variety of reasons for these changes but it basically boils down to the following pattern: (1) the liberal democracies emerged in each of these countries; (2) the leaders of these democracies tried to devise secular governments; (3) the Islamic clergy, who in each case had a lot to lose financially, opposed any such change and mobilized diverse groups of people against the liberal democrats; and (4) the governments could not sustain the pressure from the clergy and collapsed.

In the case of Iran, the Shah replaced the liberal democracy twice - once in 1911 and a second time in 1963 - and was eventually overthrown by the clergy when he went too far in trying to create a secular state.

It was an interesting but tough book to get through.

A Little Education on the Islamic Faith (from Islam Online)

Islam's stance on oral sex 3/3/2004 10:30:00 AM GMT

Respected scholars of Islam, As-Salamu `Alaykum wa Rahmatu Allah wa Barakatuh. What is the Islamic stance on oral sex between the husband and his wife? Jazakum Allah khayran.


Answer
Wa`alykum As-Salaamu Warahmatullahi Wabarakaatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

Dear questioner, thank you so much for your concerns about your religion and Allah’s teachings even in what concerns your sexual life with your wife.

As regards your question, it is to be noted, first of all, that all acts that aim at satisfying and pleasing the spouses are allowable so long as two things are avoided, that is anal sex and having sex with a wife while she is still in her menstruation. Thus, it is permissible for a husband and a wife to practice cunnilingus and fellatio. Following we’d cite the opinions of some well-known Muslim scholars in this regard:

The eminent Muslim scholar, Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi states:

“I was asked about oral sex in America and Europe when I began to travel to these countries in the early 70s. We are not used to be asked these questions in our Muslim countries. Those Western people are accustomed to stripping naked during sexual intercourse. These are communities of nakedness, and from the licentiousness of the woman that she wears nothing to screen her body in her daily life.

So, they are in need of more excitements during copulation. However, men in our Muslim societies see nothing in the Muslim woman that can excite them on the basis of her wearing either Hijab (veil) or Niqab (face cover). But concerning whether being in complete nakedness during practicing copulation is lawful or not, the Prophet of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, is reported to have said, "Guard your private parts except from your wife or your slaves."

Muslim jurists are of the opinion that it is lawful for the husband to perform cunnilingus on his wife, or a wife to perform the similar act for her husband (fellatio) and there is no wrong in doing so. But if sucking leads to releasing semen, then it is Makruh (blameworthy), but there is no decisive evidence (to forbid it).

These parts are not dirty like anus, but it is ordinarily disgusting to man. But there is no decisive evidence to make it unlawful, especially if the wife agrees with it or achieves orgasm by practicing it. Allah, Exalted and Glorified be He, says: "And who guard their modesty, save from their wives or the slaves, that I heir right hands possess, for then they are not blameworthy, but Who so craveth beyond that, such are transgressors.” (Al-Mu'minun: 5-7)”

In the light of this, scholars maintain that the husband is allowed to enjoy his wife through any means of enjoyment except anal sex, for that is strictly forbidden.

Dr. Ali Jum`ah, professor of the Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence at Al-Azhar Univ., says further that licking, sucking and kissing spouse's sexual organs are all allowed, as long as it gives a person sexual gratification that will keep him away from Haram (unlawful) or starring at opposite sex (marriageable). But every Muslim must keep in mind that sexual intercourse is just a lust and passion that must be satisfied in a lawful way; it's not to be perceived as necessary as foods and drinks, as it's the case in the Western perverted ideology.

Shedding more light on this, Dr. Sabri `Abdul Ra’ouf, professor of Islamic Comparative Jurisprudence, at Al-Azhar Univ, says that it's allowed for the married couple to enjoy each other as long as what they do does not run counter to the teachings of Islam or violate the public norms. He also gives support to the view of Sheikh Al-Qaradawi that oral sex or kissing private parts of the spouse is something viewed disgusting to Muslims, but if the aim is just kissing (without having constant indulgence in it) it's not sinful to do that, but people of high morality normally keep away from that, as not to give in to imitating non-Muslims.”

In conclusion, it has become clear now that oral sex is not prohibited, but it is not the normal choice for committed Muslims and Muslimahs. That's, despite that oral sex is not Haram, it is completely disgusting and does not conform to the pure taste and decency of a Muslim personality.

Here, it should be noted that one of the main objectives of Shari`ah is to safeguard the life of people and keep them healthy. Based on this, if it is scientifically proven that oral sex or such practices cause mouth cancer or form a danger on the health of a person who practices it, then it becomes totally prohibited.

10. Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman and the Surrender of Japan by Tsuyoshi Hasegawa

Racing the Enemy
Originally uploaded by buzby.

Phew! If you are looking for a blow by blow account in less than daily increments of the end of World War II, then this is a good book. If not then it is boring. I was not looking for such an account.

What I found quite surprising is the number of peace overtures that Japan made towards the end of the war that were ignored by Truman and his cabinet who seemed bent on dropping the A-bombs.

9. What Went Wrong? by Bernard Lewis

What
Originally uploaded by buzby.

This book is a comparative survey of the differences between Western Christendom and Middle Eastern Islam with the avowed objective of reaching some kind of a conclusion about the state of the world today and how we got here.

The book fails on two counts. First, the author tries to answer questions, such as why Middle Eastern scientific development stalled in the 1500s just as the same was getting started in Renaissance Europe, that people dedicate their entire lives trying to answer in just a few pages.

Second, the author never tells us what he thinks has gone wrong. He concludes the book by writing about what various historians believe has gone wrong.

The sixth chapter dealing with the history and significance of secular governments was most interesting. In this chapter Lewis points out that in Islam the church is the state and there is no history of conflict between church and state, whereas in Christianity there has always been a conflicted relationship between church and state that eventually led to the western secular governments of today.

Not a great book.

8. The Persian Sphinx: Amir Abbas Hoveyda and the Riddle of the Iranian Revolution by Abbas Milani

hoveyda
Originally uploaded by buzby.

Since 1925, when the Pahlavi dynasty began, the Shah of Iran has asserted that he has the constitutional right to appoint the prime minister. And since the two Shahs since 1925 were both a little insane the prime minister's office was an annual revolving door. Until, that is, the mid 1960s when Hoveyda was appointed prime minister and served the country for 12 years.

This story is the biography of one of the great men of Iranian politics. He came to power, tried to foment as much change as he could while operating under the constraints of the monarch and was brutally executed by Khomeini's men in 1979.

It is a very well researched and written biography and I would recommend it, even to you infidels.

Taxi Fascist

1001925-Taxis-Florence
Originally uploaded by buzby.

When it comes to cabs I am the most tyrannical guy you've ever met. I think that the London black cabs are what all cabs in the world should strive for. They are comfortable, always clean, rarely smelly and, since the drivers are all owner operators and make a lot, they always know where they are going.

New York, however, is the antithesis of London. The cabs are uncomfortable, they tell you that they can take 5 passengers but you really can't fit 4 people on the rear bench seat and the front seat is often occupied by the driver's junk, there is practically no leg room and the cabs often stink.

The problem with NY cabs is really well exemplified in the fight that went on between the mayor and the cab companies a few years ago when the mayor was forcing them to install air conditioning for the back seats. In a city with summer time temperatures in the 90s and an almost constant sticky humidity you would think that air conditioning would be a no brainier. Wrong. The cab companies fought it tooth and nail but were finally forced to cave.

Toronto cabs are worse than NY. At least NY cabs generally know where they are going. In Toronto you have to give them directions to even the most central locations.

I was recently in Florence and found that I could appreciate the cab system there. Like in London there are specific customer friendly standards for the cabs (pictured). All of the drivers are owner operators and I never had to give directions to any of them even though my hotel was a little out of the way. The cab ordering system there was the coolest. Instead of telephoning for a cab, you simply press a button on a credit card approval like device which spits out a small piece of paper with the eta of your taxi and the taxi number.

7. An Army at Dawn by Rick Atkinson

army at dawn
Originally uploaded by buzby.

The bottom line is that this is an entertaining and informative read about the North African campaign in WWII.

But it has its problems. First, in one of the early chapters the author writes that it would be too cumbersome to cite every reference that he has used so he does away with footnotes and suggests that his impressive bibliography should suffice. I think that that is wrong. Second, it is written too much like a story and too little like a history book. For example, at one point the author writes that Eisenhower's stomach was churning with anxiety as he headed towards the front. How could anyone possibly know this? In the absence of footnotes we will never know.

My criticisms only serve as minor annoyances to a generally good book.

6. War and the American Presidency by Arthur M. Schlesinger

war
Originally uploaded by buzby.

This is one of those books where you can almost tell that the author punched it out to take advantage the sujet de jour.

Except for the chapter on the electoral college and its history and the paragraphs describing how crazy Ahscroft is, it is not a particularly informative book.

Ashcroft's particular branch of Christianity frowns upon public dancing, which makes Footloose a political criticism well ahead of its time.

5. Modern Iran by Nikki Keddie

This is a history of modern Iran written by a Marxist historian. In the book she argues that the revolution was largely the result of a class struggle between the ruling elites on the one hand and an alliance of the clergy, the merchant class and the urban and rural poor on the other hand.

I believe that her arguments have some merit, however, as with many other Marxist historians she gets trapped by the rigidness of the Marxist historiography and fails to see that there were other causes of the revolution beyond the class struggle that she articulates.

A Debate Worth Having

Liberals of varying colors spend a lot of their time deriding Bush's foreign policy and mis-adventures in the Middle East. But what if, in four years time, we have an independent and democratic Palestinian state in stable co-existence wit Israel, a fledgling democracy in Iraq, an independent Lebanon, and no nuclear weapons in Iran. What will we say about Bush then?

The reason I bring this up is that this scenario was a virtual impossibility a few months ago but is now a possible, albeit unlikely, outcome.

We will certainly be able to roundly criticize Bush's domestic policies. But it will be difficult to describe him as an ass.

The Craziness - A Little Cultural Education

You guys will not be alone if you are wondering why these insane looking shi'as are bloodying themselves on this the holiest day of the shi'a calendar known as Ashura. So here is a brief explanation.

After the prophet Mohammed died in the 7th century there was a battle between the Arabian Caliphs and Mohammed's sons as to who would take over as the ruler of Mecca. The Caliphs wanted to put themselves in charge and the sons of Mohammed wanted to put themselves in charge.

The Caliphs killed two of the sons. The third son, Hussein, who was living in Iraq at the time started to head back to Mecca to try to take over the throne. He was ambushed and killed by the Caliph's men as he was going through Karbala in Iraq.

So today's Shi'a are bloodying themselves to show their respect for Hussein's suffering. This ritual, however, is a concotion of modern fundamentalist Islam and not something that has been done for hundreds of years. The truly traditional way to mark this holiday is by prayer.

Oh Canada!

The Toronto Star's headline today blared that the two greatest hockey players of all time (pictured) who happen to be Canadian have stepped in and are poised to save the NHL season.

Their sources said that a season saving announcement will be made today and a 28 game hockey season will begin on March 1st.

Update

I am overwhelmed by emptiness now that not even these great Canadians could save the hockey season.

Gawk

I have found that since I've been engaged and the motivation to try to get women's attention has largely been eliminated I am totally unapologetically checking women out without even caring if I get busted.

4. The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq by Kenneth M. Pollack

pollack
Originally uploaded by buzby.

This book was written in 2002 before the actual invasion of Iraq. Also the author (pictured) can be described as a hawkish democrat. He is definitely not one of the neo-conservatives running the US today.

The premise of this book is two fold: that Saddam Hussein is developing Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and that Saddam Hussein is one of the more evil leaders of modern history. Consequently, the author argues that the western world should take steps to try to oust him from Iraq. Pollack then produces a rigorous analysis of the different foreign policy options available to the United States to achieve this goal.

He convincingly argues that the policy of Containment, which has been in place since Saddam fist invaded Kuwait, is now falling apart because some European countries, the Chinese, the Russians and the Turks are not abiding by the sanctions any more. He further argues that it will be next to impossible to bring these rogue nations in line with the containment policy again.

Pollack then tackles the policy of Deterrence where the west essentially allows Saddam to do whatever he wants within his borders but hits him hard if he makes any predatory moves towards other countries. He also argues that a policy that seeks to overthrow Saddam by using the CIA also will not work in Iraq.

In a lengthy chapter analyzing the invasion of Afghanistan he demonstrates why an approach like the one that the US used in Afghanistan where it used the Northern Alliance as a proxy invading force will not work in Iraq.

Finally, almost by elimination, he shows that the only viable foreign policy option is to invade Iraq.

One of the key arguments that Pollack uses to support his thesis is that Iraq's WMD program is substantially more advanced than it turned out to be. He believed that in 2001 Saddam had over 300 missiles capable of delivering either chemical or biological weapons as far as Tel Aviv. Furthermore, he believed that Iraq's nuclear program was sufficiently advanced that it could produce a bomb in the next 5 years.

Clearly he was wrong. If Iraq's weapons programs had been as advanced as he believed then his arguments and suggestions would make a lot of sense. The book, however, is an excellent primer on the foreign policy issues facing the United States in the Middle East.

The Wheels Are Coming Off

Rafer
Originally uploaded by buzby.

I have never seen a basketball team disintegrate as the Raptors are doing. If you go to their games you can tell how disaffected the players are: they're practically walking up and down the court, they are not paying any attention to the coach during the breaks and they often seem more excited to see their opponents - chest thumps, smiles and some easy conversation - before the game than winning the game for their team.

Then there is the off court stuff. Last week Alston and the coach, Sam Mitchell, got into a fight at half time in the locker room. Alston did not play the rest of the game and was ultimately escorted by security guards to the team's bus. Some witnesses say that the he was in tears. For the past few days Alston has been asking for an apology and some of his team mates agree that he deserves one.

Then last night Vince's mom came out and said that in December Vince and Mitchell also got into an altercation in the locker room.

I have seasons tickets to the Raptors and I sit next to the "super fan," who is on good terms with most of the Raptor players and, for example, went to Vince's wedding last summer. He has taken a paternalistic liking to me and often tells me stuff about what's going on with the team. I don't entirely believe everything he has to say but I can't totally discount it either.

According to the "super fan," Mitchell has a very physical style and is often wrestling and sparring with the players in practice and in the locker room. So he was not at all surprised at the Alston situation. The "super fan" thinks that Mitchell will be fired very soon.

If all of this is true Mitchell is a very bizarre guy.

So we are left with a team without a franchise player, which has gone through something like 5 coaches in 8 years and no real prospects on the horizon.

Two years ago Maple Leaf Entertainment - the company that owns the Air Canada Center, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Raptors - was sold to a very large Canadian pension fund. In a subsequent post I will tell you why I think that today's Raptors are just what the owners want.

Go Daddy Ads - The Ugly Side of the Superbowl

According to the Go Daddy web site, they had purchased two ads for the superbowl: one to run in the first quarter and the second to run at the 2 minute warning in the first half. They allege that after the NFL saw the first ad they phoned FOX and got them to pull the second ad.

I find this a little difficult to believe because I think that the NFL would have checked the ads well before the game had started.

If Go Daddy is telling the truth then it is very sad how much control corporations are exerting over our lives and how spineless some corporations, like FOX, have become.

T plus 46 days

The wheels are coming off! All of a sudden my idea of not registering for wedding gifts and asking people to donate to charities is coming under attack on multiple fronts. My mother, who is supported by my sister, think that our guests will perceive it to be a form of snobbery if we don't register. They argue that people will think that we are so well off that people couldn't possibly buy us a gift that we don't have.

Others have weighed in saying that our guests will not listen and buy gifts anyway so you might as well try to get them to buy you things you want.

And still others have said that we should donate to charities anonymously so asking guests to donate in our name is not good.

I thought it was such a good idea...