With President Victor Yuschenko's decision to disband parliament and hold early elections, a new political crisis began. Now it has entered its second week, foreign diplomats and well-wishers have travelled to Kiev offering to help broker a solution. Surprisingly absent from this group is Slovakia, despite having declared Ukraine its foreign policy priority in 2004. No official government statements on the unrest have been issued either. Why?
As interested as I am in the politics of country I live and work in there are some things its government does that is more surprising than what I see the President in my native country doing. So, for my Slovak readers and my American friends this is what has been going on.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, whom Yuschenko accuses of trying to oust him, met on April 12 with Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas and reassured him that the crisis would not affect Ukraine's foreign or economic policy--the country is a major transit route for natural gas to European markets--while a group of European Parliament members was also in Ukraine on a mediation mission, with EP deputy speaker Marek Siwiec urging European lawmakers to pay more attention to what he described as "a power struggle".
If these names sound familiar that is because these two, Yuschenko and Yanukovych, are old foes from Ukraine's 'Orange Revolution' in 2004, when Yuschenko won a repeat presidential vote after Yanukovych's victory in the first round was found to have been accompanied by massive election fraud. Last month defections of some MPs in the Ukraine parliament to Yanukovych's ruling coalition, made Yuschenko accuse the government of trying to gain enough support to impeach him, and shut the legislature down. Paranoia or not, the parliament has continued to meet, however, while Yuschenko insists new elections will be held on May 27.
Siwiec has said that the European Parliament and the European Union should change their attitude to what is happening in Ukraine, since if we allow the crisis to escalate it could threaten European interests and Ukraine's European ambitions. Wise words considering the geographical significance of the country. Even former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski has been on hand to mediate between the two Ukraine leaders. Kwasniewski played a major role in brokering an agreement during the Orange Revolution.
However, in Slovakia, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ján Škoda said his ministry would not comment on a situation it regarded as an internal matter of Ukraine. Telling the The Slovak Specator "We are monitoring the situation on a daily basis, and of course we support all democratic forces in Ukraine, what we are doing is adequate for the situation. We cannot compare what is happening to the Orange Revolution."
This is odd considering the previous government statements over the past few years.
Following Yuschenko's victory over Yanukovych in early 2005, then-Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda mentioned how Slovakia would offer Ukraine all of its experiences gained from reform. The country was praised for its engagement on Ukraine by US President George W. Bush during his speech in Bratislava at the Bush-Putin summit in February 2005. High-level contacts with Ukraine have continued under the new Fico government, including visits by Fico and Foreign Minister Ján Kubiš this year and Defence Minister František Kašický and Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paška in late 2006.
In trying to answer my own question of why I remember Foreign policy analyst Alexander Duleba comments that it was too early to tell what the nature of Slovakia's interest in Ukraine would be under the new administration, basically meaning business, or Ukraine's democracy and Western integration. This is a part of the puzzle, as is the fact that there has been no public pressure, no demand for the Slovak Foreign Ministry to respond. It is understandable that Kwasniewski is in Ukraine since it is part of Poland's internal domestic discourse, but why has there been no public discourse on Ukraine in Slovakia. We have had debates on Turkey and Kosovo? This is particularily strange since it was Kubiš along with Kwasniewski who had played a key role in resolving the 2004 crisis.
Action is needed. Slovakia has a unique opportunity to be the leader within Central Europe and help pull Ukraine closer to the E.U. The closer Kiev gets the farther away from Moscow and that is what is important if European integration is going to work.
Until next time
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Saturday, April 14, 2007
France's presidential election
For the past quarter-century the French seem to have accepted a sort of unwritten, profoundly conservative pact with their politicians. It goes something like this: we agree to elect you, the political class—all trained at the same post-graduate college, the Ecole Nationale d'Administration—and we will tolerate high unemployment as the price of the protection you guarantee for the rest of us. In return, you agree not to undermine that protection, and to preserve the system as it is. Recently, however, this deal has been strained to its limits. The French no longer trust their politicians to shelter them, and are furious about it. They rejected the EU constitution in a referendum in 2005, partly in protest against an enlarged Europe that threatened to suck jobs out of France and which their politicians could do nothing about. When rioters set light to the banlieues in 2005, the French were reminded that high unemployment has a searing social cost: the failure to integrate ethnic minorities.
So as the French prepare to go to the polls to elect a new president, they have every reason to feel perky. The top 40 companies on the Paris bourse have been pulling in record profits. The TGV, France's homegrown high-speed railway train, has just reached the dazzling world-beating speed of 575 kph (357 mph) on the new line from Paris to Strasbourg. And after 12 ‘interesting’ years under 74-year-old Jacques Chirac, voters are about to hand power to a fresh, dynamic younger generation. However, as the French head to the voting booths for their two-round poll, on April 22nd and May 6th, they do so in a collective funk. They are fed up and fearful. Fearful that their jobs will disappear abroad, that their children will not find work, that the banlieues will explode again, that their welfare system will collapse. They are also tired of politicians who seem neither inclined nor capable of doing anything about it. Not all of this declinism is justified. Elements of the methodically planned, generously financed French system still serve the country well. For example, France's public hospitals are first-rate. Free nursery schooling has helped to boost birth rates to among the highest in Europe. With such success also underlines a system that has undermined risk-taking, and braked economic growth. The past five years, has seen GDP growth in France below the OECD average. No greater concernation for French pride is to see Germany's economy take off, again, while France's has stalled: in the fourth quarter of 2006, on a year-on-year basis, GDP grew more slowly in France than in any other European Union country except Portugal.
There are many reasons for this underperformance, in particular, the fragile industrial middle. But the single biggest problem is that not enough people work, and when they do, they do not spend enough time on the job. France's 35-hour work week is one of the shortest in the world; the employment rate for the over-55s one of the lowest; and unemployment has not dipped below 8% for 25 years. Over-protected jobs prompt employers to recruit temporary staff, thereby entrenching the very insecurity that protected job contracts are meant to prevent, cutting off employment growth of minority communitites that have lead to the recent rioting.
Into all this steps three very different, very electiable canditates. The upstart Socialist outsider Ségolène Royal, a mother of four, whose partner, François Hollande, happens to be the party boss, and it does not hurt that she also seems to embody modernity. She talked unlike any leader on the French left, admiring Tony Blair's employment record and using taboo phrases like “labour flexibility”. She has proven internet-savvy, and promised a new “participatory democracy”. At last, it seemed, here was a leader who could modernise the French Socialists. Then there is Mr Bayrou. A former education minister repackaged as a provincial farmer from the south-west, Mr Bayrou promises to “bridge the left-right divide”. His programme is a mix of fiscal prudence and old-style interventionism. He is admirably bold about curbing public debt, and promising to spend only what the state can afford. He hopes to encourage job creation, by allowing each company to hire two workers free of payroll charges. He wants to lower France's wealth tax by broadening its base.Although his surge in the polls has levelled off lately, he remains a contender, drawing those disillusioned both with the palaeo-Socialists and Mr Sarkozy on the right. Finally, there is Nicolas Sarkozy.
His economic program defies classification. On industrial policy, he is an unapologetic interventionist. He is proud of having rescued Alstom, an engineering firm, from bankruptcy with taxpayers' money when finance minister, in 2004. He says it was “a mistake” to have sold Arcelor, a steelmaker taken over by Mittal last year. Three elements of Mr Sarkozy's program, however, are of more liberal inspiration. First, he understands the need to remove obstacles to job creation. He plans to liberalise the 35-hour week by exonerating all overtime from payroll charges and income tax. Second, he believes in minimising taxation. He wants to lower the overall personal tax rate from 60% to 50%; and he promises, optimistically, to cut the overall tax burden by four percentage points over ten years, and public debt to 60% of GDP by 2012. Sarkozy is also ready to confront France's bastions of conservatism. He promises to give universities more autonomy, letting them compete to recruit staff and students. He says he would break the big five unions' statutory stranglehold on representation in companies. He intends to introduce a law that will guarantee “minimum service” on public transport during strikes. And he wants to reform the special pension regimes for railway drivers and other state employees that enable them to retire early on full pension.
These are the reasons that Sarkozy is the only candidate who seems both to have understood the urgency of reform and to have the abrasiveness to stand a chance of carrying it out. A political outsider, who fought his way to the top of the Gaullist party through hard work and cunning, he remains fearless in the face of opposition. For all of Europe, France’s presidential election is important. Central and Eastern European countries new to the European Union and those still benefiting from the labor flexibility that such ‘western’ european countries have provided their citizens who wins the first round is important, but who wins the second is vital not only to the next 50 years of this European Union, but France’s relationship to the world.
So as the French prepare to go to the polls to elect a new president, they have every reason to feel perky. The top 40 companies on the Paris bourse have been pulling in record profits. The TGV, France's homegrown high-speed railway train, has just reached the dazzling world-beating speed of 575 kph (357 mph) on the new line from Paris to Strasbourg. And after 12 ‘interesting’ years under 74-year-old Jacques Chirac, voters are about to hand power to a fresh, dynamic younger generation. However, as the French head to the voting booths for their two-round poll, on April 22nd and May 6th, they do so in a collective funk. They are fed up and fearful. Fearful that their jobs will disappear abroad, that their children will not find work, that the banlieues will explode again, that their welfare system will collapse. They are also tired of politicians who seem neither inclined nor capable of doing anything about it. Not all of this declinism is justified. Elements of the methodically planned, generously financed French system still serve the country well. For example, France's public hospitals are first-rate. Free nursery schooling has helped to boost birth rates to among the highest in Europe. With such success also underlines a system that has undermined risk-taking, and braked economic growth. The past five years, has seen GDP growth in France below the OECD average. No greater concernation for French pride is to see Germany's economy take off, again, while France's has stalled: in the fourth quarter of 2006, on a year-on-year basis, GDP grew more slowly in France than in any other European Union country except Portugal.
There are many reasons for this underperformance, in particular, the fragile industrial middle. But the single biggest problem is that not enough people work, and when they do, they do not spend enough time on the job. France's 35-hour work week is one of the shortest in the world; the employment rate for the over-55s one of the lowest; and unemployment has not dipped below 8% for 25 years. Over-protected jobs prompt employers to recruit temporary staff, thereby entrenching the very insecurity that protected job contracts are meant to prevent, cutting off employment growth of minority communitites that have lead to the recent rioting.
Into all this steps three very different, very electiable canditates. The upstart Socialist outsider Ségolène Royal, a mother of four, whose partner, François Hollande, happens to be the party boss, and it does not hurt that she also seems to embody modernity. She talked unlike any leader on the French left, admiring Tony Blair's employment record and using taboo phrases like “labour flexibility”. She has proven internet-savvy, and promised a new “participatory democracy”. At last, it seemed, here was a leader who could modernise the French Socialists. Then there is Mr Bayrou. A former education minister repackaged as a provincial farmer from the south-west, Mr Bayrou promises to “bridge the left-right divide”. His programme is a mix of fiscal prudence and old-style interventionism. He is admirably bold about curbing public debt, and promising to spend only what the state can afford. He hopes to encourage job creation, by allowing each company to hire two workers free of payroll charges. He wants to lower France's wealth tax by broadening its base.Although his surge in the polls has levelled off lately, he remains a contender, drawing those disillusioned both with the palaeo-Socialists and Mr Sarkozy on the right. Finally, there is Nicolas Sarkozy.
His economic program defies classification. On industrial policy, he is an unapologetic interventionist. He is proud of having rescued Alstom, an engineering firm, from bankruptcy with taxpayers' money when finance minister, in 2004. He says it was “a mistake” to have sold Arcelor, a steelmaker taken over by Mittal last year. Three elements of Mr Sarkozy's program, however, are of more liberal inspiration. First, he understands the need to remove obstacles to job creation. He plans to liberalise the 35-hour week by exonerating all overtime from payroll charges and income tax. Second, he believes in minimising taxation. He wants to lower the overall personal tax rate from 60% to 50%; and he promises, optimistically, to cut the overall tax burden by four percentage points over ten years, and public debt to 60% of GDP by 2012. Sarkozy is also ready to confront France's bastions of conservatism. He promises to give universities more autonomy, letting them compete to recruit staff and students. He says he would break the big five unions' statutory stranglehold on representation in companies. He intends to introduce a law that will guarantee “minimum service” on public transport during strikes. And he wants to reform the special pension regimes for railway drivers and other state employees that enable them to retire early on full pension.
These are the reasons that Sarkozy is the only candidate who seems both to have understood the urgency of reform and to have the abrasiveness to stand a chance of carrying it out. A political outsider, who fought his way to the top of the Gaullist party through hard work and cunning, he remains fearless in the face of opposition. For all of Europe, France’s presidential election is important. Central and Eastern European countries new to the European Union and those still benefiting from the labor flexibility that such ‘western’ european countries have provided their citizens who wins the first round is important, but who wins the second is vital not only to the next 50 years of this European Union, but France’s relationship to the world.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
The Gulf 15
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced today that the 15 British sailors and marines who were captured in the Gulf last month are to be released "immediately". Speaking at a press conference to mark the Iranian New Year, he maintained the military personnel had "invaded" Iran's territorial waters and described their release as a "gift". Meanwhile, the Iranian state news agency Irna reported that an envoy was being given access to five Iranians detained by the US military in Iraq since January. This was done shortly after Mr. Ahmadinejad gave medals to the Iranian naval officers who had taken the 15 sailors.This seems to be a happy ending. But as Phillip Jacobson stated in his article Chronicle of a Kidnapping Fortold “Iran's Supreme Leader warned publicly that the Islamic regime intended to retaliate in kind for "illegal measures" he claimed had been taken against Iran by the international community. In a tub-thumping speech to mark the Iranian New Year, Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei electrified a crowd in Mashad with a defiant declaration that "we can also act against the law and we will do so". Some experts on Iran interpreted this as proof that Khamenei had already given the nod for a strike against the West in response to the international community's opposition to the controversial Iranian nuclear program. If this is true then a new angle to this how crisis is reveled.
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=1&subID=1292
So, if engagement instead of confrontation does indeed prove correct (let us wait till the news cameras show those sailors on British soil) then it could set a useful precedent. Moderates on both sides could then point to this crisis and accurately say that talks with the west can yield results, giving fresh impetus for negotiations on Iran’s nuclear plans.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Seville & Malaga
Taking advantage of the opportunity to go back to Spain after last weeks wonderful trip to Barcelona I first traveled to Seville. I did not see the barber.Seville is the artistic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain, irrigated by the river Guadalquivir. It is the capital of Andalusia and of the province of Sevilla. I was surprised to discover that the population of the city of Seville proper was roughly 704,154 the population of the urban area was over a million, ranking the city as the fourth-largest metropolitan area of Spain. With this said, you do not feel that you are in such a large city. Known as Hispalis under the Moors. The architecture of the older parts of the city still reflects the centuries of Moorish control of the city, beginning in 711. The city sits well inland, but a mere 6 meters above sea level. Seville was long an important sea port, prior to the silting up of the Guadalquivir. It was from Seville that Ferdinand Magellan obtained the ships for his circumnavigation. Much of the Spanish Empire’s silver from the New World came to Europe in the Spanish treasure fleet that landed in Seville. To those fellow history lover readers out there, Seville holds the most important archive of the Spanish administration in the Americas: the Archivo General de Indias. Also, the American silver had been rapidly transhipped to Antwerp or Genoa, seat of the bankers who had advanced steady funds to the Spanish Crown from Seville. To those chocolate lovers, the first commercial shipment of chocolate from Veracruz arrived in Seville in 1585. The city was the biggest of Spain in 16th and 17th centuries, with a population of 130,000 in 1649, the year of the Great Plague of Seville. This was the beginning of the city's fall from importance, but Seville was an important artistic centre of the baroque. A stronghold of the liberals during the First Spanish Civil War, 1820-1823, due to its proximity to Africa, during the Second Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939, Seville fell to the insurgent army led by Francisco Franco.
I was able to see the city's cathedral which was built on the former site of the city's mosque. It is the largest of all medieval and Gothic cathedrals, in terms of both area and volume. The interior, with the longest nave in Spain, is lavishly decorated, with a large quantity of gold eident. Interestingly enough, the Cathedral reused some columns and elements from the mosque, and most famously the Giralda, originally a minaret, was converted into a bell tower. On the top of the cathedral is a statue, known locally as La Giraldilla, representing Faith and is the city's most famous symbol. I loved Seville and wished I could have stayed but it was one to Malaga.
Málaga is a port city in Andalusia, southern Spain, on the Costa del Sol coast of the Mediterranean. It is beautiful if a bit too tourist. The climate is mild and equable, the mean annual temperature being about 19 °C (66 °F). It has been compared to Naples for its broad sky and broad expanse of bay. The beaches where very nice and I received a nice tan.
The inner city of Málaga is just behind the harbour. And I walked the quarters of El Perchel, La Trinidad and Lagunillas. The Holy Week, Semana Santa, one of two well-known of Málaga's festivals took place while I visisted and I have attached a corresponding picture.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Barcelona
Part of my break or 'holiday' between terms allowed me to go to Spain. If you have never gone I strongly urge you to visit. Yes, what you might see on the travel channel is true; dinner is served no sooner than 8:00pm. Now, for many people in the U.S., Barcelona is best remembered for being the site of the 1992 Summer Olympics. However, well before this occasion, the city played an important role in Spain's history. Bacelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and is the capital of Catalonia. To be honest, I only knew of Catalonia through Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Mautrin naval series. So, to make the discovery that Barcelona is the regions capital was very exciting. If however, my dear reader you are still fuzzy where geographically Barcelona is I will save you the trouble of running for the Atlas. It is located on the Mediterranean coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs, limited to the west by the Serra de Collserola ridge (which my plane flew over and I must admit it is massive looking down). Then again, maybe you do need the Atlas.
If you do wish to travel to Barcelona I highly suggest taking the Barcelona Bus Turistic. It was through this mode of travel that I saw literally the entire city, stepping off into the Placa de Catalunya, the city's nerve center; Casa Batlio; the Casa Mila known as La Pedrera; Sagrada Familia; Park Guell; Miramar-Jardins Costa i Llobera; Colom-Museu Maritim; Port Vell; and the medieval quarter that keeps itself young, the Pla de Palau. A few pictures of what I saw and the man whom all Barcelona loves:
Barcelona is a major economic centre, with one of Spain's principal Mediterranean ports. On Thursday walking along with beach I could almost see in the distance the ships that launched the Spanish Empire (Columbus's Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria). On Saturday I immersed myself in the architectural works of Antoni Gaudí with his house, and several buildings being on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. For the political junkie in me I had to see the houses of the Catalan autonomous government, known as the Generalitat de Catalunya, notably its executive branch, the Parliament and the Supreme Court of Catalonia.
If you do wish to travel to Barcelona I highly suggest taking the Barcelona Bus Turistic. It was through this mode of travel that I saw literally the entire city, stepping off into the Placa de Catalunya, the city's nerve center; Casa Batlio; the Casa Mila known as La Pedrera; Sagrada Familia; Park Guell; Miramar-Jardins Costa i Llobera; Colom-Museu Maritim; Port Vell; and the medieval quarter that keeps itself young, the Pla de Palau. A few pictures of what I saw and the man whom all Barcelona loves:
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
End of Term & Train trip
The university where I teach over here operates on a trimester system. So, after ten weeks of teaching I have allowed a brief respite before I begin the Spring term.
I have traveled to Brussels and in a few days I will leave for Barcelona. The advantage of living on the Continent. To get to Brussels I took a flight from Bratislava to Paris, then a train to Brussels. If you, my dear reader, am confused as to why I chose this particular route to get to my final destination I will soothe any frowns with this simple answer. It was faster. A flight from Bratislava to Brussels involves a stop over in Munich. I am sure that Munich is nice, but after spending five hours in its airport I wish not to experience it again. Since the whole trip should only take approximately three hours and my first trip to Brussels had leave in the morning and arrive in the evening I was looking for something else. So, an hour and half plane journey to Paris and then a hour and forty minute train journey to Brussels. Simple, concise and easy.
Upon arriving at Paris Orly airport I followed the signs to the train, bought my ticket and proceeded to take the Metro (blue line) to Gard de Nord. Once there I collected my pre-ordered ticket and made my way to the track. However, two things happened that I found particularly intriguing. The first was that I was asked by a gypsy for money. I fell into the trap quite quickly, since I had had my back turned and only heard 'do you speak English?' Maybe it was my luggage. But then maybe it was how I was dressed that gave off the impression that I was a local, but educated enough to speak one of the universal languages. This seemed to be the case on the train not ten minutes earlier as I had helped a couple on vacation navigate the crowds and their map. So with this memory still fresh in my mind I assumed it was another lost tourist. I was mistaken. When I told her truthfully that I did not have any euros she empathically stressed she wanted dollars (quite the shred businesswoman). Unfortunately for her I did not have any dollars only Slovak crowns and a 1 euro coin, which as I was telling her that I had no American money fell out of my wallet rolling on the ground. I was soon forgotten as she scrambled for the coin and I promptly left.
My other intriguing observation was the rolling countryside of northeastern France. Whether it was the chateau sheltered by trees that I saw for the briefest moments as the train ran by or the fields of flowers and wheat. I was overcome with the sense of history (the professor and nerd inside me crying out for the train to stop) imagining the very same rail track taking blue coated soldiers to the jagged scars across the landscape in 1915 or the herd of refugees roaming across the fields one step ahead of the advancing German Wehrmacht in 1940. This was not too hard to do since stone pill boxes can still be seen, if you know what you are looking at.
I will write on Spain soon.
I have traveled to Brussels and in a few days I will leave for Barcelona. The advantage of living on the Continent. To get to Brussels I took a flight from Bratislava to Paris, then a train to Brussels. If you, my dear reader, am confused as to why I chose this particular route to get to my final destination I will soothe any frowns with this simple answer. It was faster. A flight from Bratislava to Brussels involves a stop over in Munich. I am sure that Munich is nice, but after spending five hours in its airport I wish not to experience it again. Since the whole trip should only take approximately three hours and my first trip to Brussels had leave in the morning and arrive in the evening I was looking for something else. So, an hour and half plane journey to Paris and then a hour and forty minute train journey to Brussels. Simple, concise and easy.
Upon arriving at Paris Orly airport I followed the signs to the train, bought my ticket and proceeded to take the Metro (blue line) to Gard de Nord. Once there I collected my pre-ordered ticket and made my way to the track. However, two things happened that I found particularly intriguing. The first was that I was asked by a gypsy for money. I fell into the trap quite quickly, since I had had my back turned and only heard 'do you speak English?' Maybe it was my luggage. But then maybe it was how I was dressed that gave off the impression that I was a local, but educated enough to speak one of the universal languages. This seemed to be the case on the train not ten minutes earlier as I had helped a couple on vacation navigate the crowds and their map. So with this memory still fresh in my mind I assumed it was another lost tourist. I was mistaken. When I told her truthfully that I did not have any euros she empathically stressed she wanted dollars (quite the shred businesswoman). Unfortunately for her I did not have any dollars only Slovak crowns and a 1 euro coin, which as I was telling her that I had no American money fell out of my wallet rolling on the ground. I was soon forgotten as she scrambled for the coin and I promptly left.
My other intriguing observation was the rolling countryside of northeastern France. Whether it was the chateau sheltered by trees that I saw for the briefest moments as the train ran by or the fields of flowers and wheat. I was overcome with the sense of history (the professor and nerd inside me crying out for the train to stop) imagining the very same rail track taking blue coated soldiers to the jagged scars across the landscape in 1915 or the herd of refugees roaming across the fields one step ahead of the advancing German Wehrmacht in 1940. This was not too hard to do since stone pill boxes can still be seen, if you know what you are looking at.
I will write on Spain soon.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Whose Is The Bigot?
Three of the leading Republican presidential candidates on Saturday de
nounced one of their party's best-known conservative commentators for using an antigay epithet when discussing a Democratic presidential contender at a gathering of conservatives. It should not be any surprise that Ann Coulter is controversial; her speech and her writings are primarily for conservatives and those unfamiliar with her, though this is hard to believe, it does not take long to deduce her extreme right-wing sentiments. Her comments will not repeated in this blog, but I would like to know why she choose John Edwards? He is not homosexual and more to the point there has never been any suggestion that he might be.
Such comments made possibly for shock-effect or considering Ms. Coulter’s audience amusement may be understood within that context though it still is not acceptable. I am reminded of a Slovak politician who is habitually in the media spotlight for unfavorable remarks and actions. The gentleman’s name is Ján Slota and for those readers who have not heard of him let me give you a brief bio: he is the co-founder and President of the Slovak National Party (SNS), and former mayor of the town of Žilina between 1990-2006. In the 2006 parliamentary election, Slota became an MP and his SNS joined the ruling coalition with Robert Fico’s Direction - Social Democracy party and Vladimír Mečiar’s People's Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia. As a part of the coalition agreement, Slota didn't obtain any government position.
Slota is fr
equently criticized for his arrogance and nationalism. In his defence, Slota says he is protecting Slovaks, especially those living in southern Slovakia. However when he has repeatedly made and makes xenophobic, nationalist, abusing statements about the Party of the Hungarian Coalition (the party of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia), and Hungarians in general and strongly abuses in his speeches the Roma (Romanians) and homosexuals, it is difficult to discover how he is protecting Slovaks. His most recent comments regarding Albanians had his coalition parter and former prime minister, Vladimír Mečiar cringe.
Comments by Slota and Coulter touch upon a deeper problem in the world. Ignorance. Both of the individuals mentioned in this post have a particular following of supporters. They both have a set of beliefs that they consider inseperable from their personality, in part, the reason for their celebrity, but the number of accolodes, books, or press clippings still do not change the fundamental inaccuracy of such beliefs. Moreover, such beliefs should embolden advocates, parents, and teachers to do the only responsible action. Educate. The reaction from Republican presidential contenders and public outcry towards Slota’s comments show that both are not in the mainstream of opinion. This is good and it is not only electioneering. Let us hope that the time soon comes when their opinions are not mentioned at all.
nounced one of their party's best-known conservative commentators for using an antigay epithet when discussing a Democratic presidential contender at a gathering of conservatives. It should not be any surprise that Ann Coulter is controversial; her speech and her writings are primarily for conservatives and those unfamiliar with her, though this is hard to believe, it does not take long to deduce her extreme right-wing sentiments. Her comments will not repeated in this blog, but I would like to know why she choose John Edwards? He is not homosexual and more to the point there has never been any suggestion that he might be.Such comments made possibly for shock-effect or considering Ms. Coulter’s audience amusement may be understood within that context though it still is not acceptable. I am reminded of a Slovak politician who is habitually in the media spotlight for unfavorable remarks and actions. The gentleman’s name is Ján Slota and for those readers who have not heard of him let me give you a brief bio: he is the co-founder and President of the Slovak National Party (SNS), and former mayor of the town of Žilina between 1990-2006. In the 2006 parliamentary election, Slota became an MP and his SNS joined the ruling coalition with Robert Fico’s Direction - Social Democracy party and Vladimír Mečiar’s People's Party - Movement for a Democratic Slovakia. As a part of the coalition agreement, Slota didn't obtain any government position.
Slota is fr
equently criticized for his arrogance and nationalism. In his defence, Slota says he is protecting Slovaks, especially those living in southern Slovakia. However when he has repeatedly made and makes xenophobic, nationalist, abusing statements about the Party of the Hungarian Coalition (the party of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia), and Hungarians in general and strongly abuses in his speeches the Roma (Romanians) and homosexuals, it is difficult to discover how he is protecting Slovaks. His most recent comments regarding Albanians had his coalition parter and former prime minister, Vladimír Mečiar cringe.Comments by Slota and Coulter touch upon a deeper problem in the world. Ignorance. Both of the individuals mentioned in this post have a particular following of supporters. They both have a set of beliefs that they consider inseperable from their personality, in part, the reason for their celebrity, but the number of accolodes, books, or press clippings still do not change the fundamental inaccuracy of such beliefs. Moreover, such beliefs should embolden advocates, parents, and teachers to do the only responsible action. Educate. The reaction from Republican presidential contenders and public outcry towards Slota’s comments show that both are not in the mainstream of opinion. This is good and it is not only electioneering. Let us hope that the time soon comes when their opinions are not mentioned at all.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Out of Practice
As my students prepare for their final exams and I prepare their exams while reading and grading their papers this weekend I thought it would be interesting to note what I have learned regarding european college social life. Simply stated, I am out of practice.
What I mean is that while I remember with a smile my own university days of staying up past 1:00am partying with my friends I still managed to get at least six hours of sleep and function the next day. This sleep schedule was accomplished by the fact that bars closed at 1:30 or 2:00am. In Europe this is generally when the second wave of party-goers arrive!
Most bars and clubs don't shut their doors until 4:00am! This I discovered three weeks ago and the reality of my unfitness to the 'old' lifestyle sunk in the following morning when I had to lecture through the occasional yawn and catch up on sleep for three days.
Last night was the last school party of the term. I left at 11:30pm, but many of my fellow colleagues were still there and though I asked my students, who had a review for their final exam in my classes today, not to stay out too late, this was translated as 2:30 at the latest.
The review went fine though I noticed the occassional yawn. As for myself though anything past midnight has become a struggle I am comforted to know that I have exactly six weeks before the next party.
Until next time...
What I mean is that while I remember with a smile my own university days of staying up past 1:00am partying with my friends I still managed to get at least six hours of sleep and function the next day. This sleep schedule was accomplished by the fact that bars closed at 1:30 or 2:00am. In Europe this is generally when the second wave of party-goers arrive!
Most bars and clubs don't shut their doors until 4:00am! This I discovered three weeks ago and the reality of my unfitness to the 'old' lifestyle sunk in the following morning when I had to lecture through the occasional yawn and catch up on sleep for three days.
Last night was the last school party of the term. I left at 11:30pm, but many of my fellow colleagues were still there and though I asked my students, who had a review for their final exam in my classes today, not to stay out too late, this was translated as 2:30 at the latest.
The review went fine though I noticed the occassional yawn. As for myself though anything past midnight has become a struggle I am comforted to know that I have exactly six weeks before the next party.
Until next time...
Sunday, February 18, 2007
The Power of a word
The word “scrotum” does not often appear in polite conversation. Or children’s literature, for that matter. However, in the children’s book, The Higher Power of Lucky, the book’s heroine, a scrappy 10-year-old orphan named Lucky Trimble, hears the word through a hole in a wall when another character says he saw a rattlesnake bite his dog, Roy, on the scrotum. To quote from the page:“Scrotum sounded to Lucky like something green that comes up when you have the flu and cough too much,” the book continues. “It sounded medical and secret, but also important.”
The inclusion of the word has shocked some school librarians, who have pledged to ban the book from elementary schools, and reopened the debate over what constitutes acceptable content in children’s books. To make matters worse, or better this is not just any book. The author, Susan Patron, won the Newbery Award. If it were any other novel, it probably would have gone unnoticed, unordered and unread. But in the world of children’s books, winning a Newbery is the rough equivalent of being selected as an Oprah’s Book Club title.
Visiting friends and family in Europe and now living here I have often been surprised and at times shocked by what is generally accepted by the public. Young children peeing in public, if a bit discreetly, at the foot of a tree or alongside the road and large billboard advertisements showing woman’s breasts or male buttocks. Such things are not seen in the United States, being considered too rude or crude for public consumption. There are a few exceptions over here, such as the British renaming the second Austin Powers movie, because they found the word shag offensive. Of course, when it comes to offensive or crude, my European friends are correct to point out that the sex and violence and language, to the point of gratuitous, in Hollywood movies on television and in song lyrics pervade the American culture.
The inclusion of the word has shocked some school librarians, who have pledged to ban the book from elementary schools, and reopened the debate over what constitutes acceptable content in children’s books. To make matters worse, or better this is not just any book. The author, Susan Patron, won the Newbery Award. If it were any other novel, it probably would have gone unnoticed, unordered and unread. But in the world of children’s books, winning a Newbery is the rough equivalent of being selected as an Oprah’s Book Club title.
Visiting friends and family in Europe and now living here I have often been surprised and at times shocked by what is generally accepted by the public. Young children peeing in public, if a bit discreetly, at the foot of a tree or alongside the road and large billboard advertisements showing woman’s breasts or male buttocks. Such things are not seen in the United States, being considered too rude or crude for public consumption. There are a few exceptions over here, such as the British renaming the second Austin Powers movie, because they found the word shag offensive. Of course, when it comes to offensive or crude, my European friends are correct to point out that the sex and violence and language, to the point of gratuitous, in Hollywood movies on television and in song lyrics pervade the American culture.
So why does the word scrotum worry and offend so many? I really do not have the answer. I think that an opportunity has been lost, however, in the banning of this book in some school libraries. American teachers have lost the opportunity to do what they do best, teach; while parents have lost the chance to do the same. For a culture that is supposedly at war with itself here was the opportunity that every conservative should want: parental instruction of their children unfettered by schools and the government. This too offered liberals a chance to show how inclusion of literature can be the common ground or at the very least the start of dialogue. Let us hope for a next time.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Snow, Whirlpool, and Slovak roads
Hi to all,
Well, this past weekend I trekked up to the High Tatra Mountains in Slovakia. Those of you who wish to grab an almanac, this mountain range runs across the north of the country and acts as a natural border with Poland.
Winter has arrived in Slovakia. Snow accompanied the bus on Thursday morning as it made its four hour journey north and stayed throughout the night providing the perfect conditions for skying. So on Friday, my free day, I and twelve of my colleagues took a bus to the ski slopes. Since, this was my first time skiing I was promptly forgotten by my more experienced friends, though truth be told they did check on me, more often than not, looking down upon my sprawled body in the snow. After two hours of frustration though I achieved what I had hoped for. Actual skiing down a slope at speeds that made my Olympic fantasy come alive, shortly, before the practical concern of how to stop shattered my day-dreaming. With my bruised body, not to mention ego I left the Tatra slopes unbowed though and definitely undaunted. I have found I love the activity and plan on returning as soon as I can. Later that night I found the warmth of a whirlpool the necessary remedy to my aches and pains.
Saturday was the conference and I spent most of the day inside a lecture hall listening, taking notes and educating myself.
Sunday the bus that had taken us up to the mountains now returned us, though under tougher road conditions. For those of you in the U.S. road maintenance, in particular, snow removal is considered a priority in many states where snow is the common denominator during the winter months. This is not the case in Slovakia. Such maintenance and removal does occur, just not as frequently as expected nor as I had hoped, so many prayers where offered on the return journey.
This week my students in Political Science take their mid-terms examinations. I hope for their sake they will do better than how they did on my review today.
Until next time.
Well, this past weekend I trekked up to the High Tatra Mountains in Slovakia. Those of you who wish to grab an almanac, this mountain range runs across the north of the country and acts as a natural border with Poland.
Winter has arrived in Slovakia. Snow accompanied the bus on Thursday morning as it made its four hour journey north and stayed throughout the night providing the perfect conditions for skying. So on Friday, my free day, I and twelve of my colleagues took a bus to the ski slopes. Since, this was my first time skiing I was promptly forgotten by my more experienced friends, though truth be told they did check on me, more often than not, looking down upon my sprawled body in the snow. After two hours of frustration though I achieved what I had hoped for. Actual skiing down a slope at speeds that made my Olympic fantasy come alive, shortly, before the practical concern of how to stop shattered my day-dreaming. With my bruised body, not to mention ego I left the Tatra slopes unbowed though and definitely undaunted. I have found I love the activity and plan on returning as soon as I can. Later that night I found the warmth of a whirlpool the necessary remedy to my aches and pains.
Saturday was the conference and I spent most of the day inside a lecture hall listening, taking notes and educating myself.
Sunday the bus that had taken us up to the mountains now returned us, though under tougher road conditions. For those of you in the U.S. road maintenance, in particular, snow removal is considered a priority in many states where snow is the common denominator during the winter months. This is not the case in Slovakia. Such maintenance and removal does occur, just not as frequently as expected nor as I had hoped, so many prayers where offered on the return journey.
This week my students in Political Science take their mid-terms examinations. I hope for their sake they will do better than how they did on my review today.
Until next time.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
The Middle East, Trains, and a retreat
Well, as is the case when there is too much to do, things are forgotten...
This blog for example. It has been nearly two weeks since I last posted and much has happened.
The classes that I teach are still good and I do still enjoy the subject matter and overall the students that file into my classroom everyday. However, I found myself in the delicate position of lecturing on the Middle East to my class of International Relations. To my surprise and a bit more to my shock very little is known, outside of the stereotyped and prejudicial views. In my attempts to mediate a bit more information on Israeli views, why for example did they refuse to leave the Golan Heights in negotiations in the late 90s; overwhelming sympathy for the Palestinian cause blocked my efforts. This was repeated when this week discussions on the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Iran resulted in similar reactions. Much of this I can justify in my mind and there were those few students who did know much about the region, its politics and troubles that did not come from the 30 second news clip the majority of their peers listen to. This is comforting. But, I am left with unsettled feelings that a generation of youth not very different from their American counterparts are walking into a future more globalized than when their fathers arrived, more enlightened in terms of available news sources and yet, apathetic.
Last weekend I took my first journey outside Trencin. Traveling by train (the only true way to travel in Europe, forget the bus) I made my way to Bratislava, Slovakia's capital and absolutely nothing like the disgusting and horrific image presented in the 2006 movie Hostel. I walked through the City Museum admiring the paintings, indulged in my love of Asian food at a wonderfully authentic Chinese restaurant and picked my way through several antique stores where the available items were more 19th century than 20th. The crown jewel, no pun intented, of my trip was a neat coffee place, owned by an ex-pat who has stuffed his walls with rows of books. Nestled down an alley, away from the hustle of the city and its tourists, this quaint little place provides the caffeine needed to read the final chapter in a mystery pulled from the shelf or the cozy smoke-filled atmosphere of the anteroom where intellectuals of all stripes can sit, philosophize, debate and laugh over a pint (yes, beer is also available).
In an hour I am off on a bus to the high Tatra's (mountains) for a retreat. A weekend of work and fun. I have been told much about this yearly excursion, heard more rumor than fact and look forward to it with anticipation. Winter has finally arrived with continual snow the last two days, and I am excited to finally wear a sweater and, if I feel so inclined, I might try the slopes tomorrow.
Until next time.
This blog for example. It has been nearly two weeks since I last posted and much has happened.
The classes that I teach are still good and I do still enjoy the subject matter and overall the students that file into my classroom everyday. However, I found myself in the delicate position of lecturing on the Middle East to my class of International Relations. To my surprise and a bit more to my shock very little is known, outside of the stereotyped and prejudicial views. In my attempts to mediate a bit more information on Israeli views, why for example did they refuse to leave the Golan Heights in negotiations in the late 90s; overwhelming sympathy for the Palestinian cause blocked my efforts. This was repeated when this week discussions on the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Iran resulted in similar reactions. Much of this I can justify in my mind and there were those few students who did know much about the region, its politics and troubles that did not come from the 30 second news clip the majority of their peers listen to. This is comforting. But, I am left with unsettled feelings that a generation of youth not very different from their American counterparts are walking into a future more globalized than when their fathers arrived, more enlightened in terms of available news sources and yet, apathetic.
Last weekend I took my first journey outside Trencin. Traveling by train (the only true way to travel in Europe, forget the bus) I made my way to Bratislava, Slovakia's capital and absolutely nothing like the disgusting and horrific image presented in the 2006 movie Hostel. I walked through the City Museum admiring the paintings, indulged in my love of Asian food at a wonderfully authentic Chinese restaurant and picked my way through several antique stores where the available items were more 19th century than 20th. The crown jewel, no pun intented, of my trip was a neat coffee place, owned by an ex-pat who has stuffed his walls with rows of books. Nestled down an alley, away from the hustle of the city and its tourists, this quaint little place provides the caffeine needed to read the final chapter in a mystery pulled from the shelf or the cozy smoke-filled atmosphere of the anteroom where intellectuals of all stripes can sit, philosophize, debate and laugh over a pint (yes, beer is also available).
In an hour I am off on a bus to the high Tatra's (mountains) for a retreat. A weekend of work and fun. I have been told much about this yearly excursion, heard more rumor than fact and look forward to it with anticipation. Winter has finally arrived with continual snow the last two days, and I am excited to finally wear a sweater and, if I feel so inclined, I might try the slopes tomorrow.
Until next time.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
In the Heart of Europe
It has been a few months. I have moved and started a new job. As promised to those readers in my last post in November I now turn my electronic pen to webpage and write once more.
I have decided to keep the blog name unchanged. Though my intention now is to write on my experiences in a foreign country and not so much my personal view of specific news stories around the world, I believe that here in Europe a 'worldspin' does occur. Different media, culture, and personal opinions provide a nice seasoning to the dish I hope to give to you, my readers, in the coming months.
A brief summary of my crazy life since I last wrote:
I accepted a teaching position at a university in Trencin, Slovakia last March. It seemed to be an ideal situation to find employment in the foreign city that was the birthplace of my wife and where much of her family still reside. And so it was that in December I moved. For those of you unfamiliar with Slovakia or the Slovak Republic as it is also known as; it was one part of the former Czechoslovakia. The nation peacefully split in 1993 and this small nation literally in the middle (heart) of Europe I now call home.
On December 20th I flew to Munich for my connecting flight to Bratislava, Slovakia. There in the airport with my wife we heard much to our chagrin ten minutes before we were to board our flight an announcement that the flight had been cancelled! (no explanation offered) This set off a mad dash to the Lufthansa service center where after waiting in line for 40 minutes were told that the next flight to Bratislava was at 9:30pm. However, a flight to Vienna was leaving at 6:40pm. We arranged to take this flight, booked in part, I believe since my wife's ticket from Istanbul, where she had been on business, had been 'business' designated and she spoke German throughout the entire conversation with the service clerk (to confirm my suspicion, a woman in front of us speaking English did not get this option, being told instead that the flight was full). Once booked we both prayed all our luggage would take the Vienna plane too. Originally, the University had arranged to have a person pick us up at the Bratislava airport. With our flights cancelled I had to call the gentleman responsible for this nice arrangement and tell him the situation. It was a bit awkward since by the time our new flight was booked and I called Michael, we were supposed to be at the Bratislava airport! All worked out. A driver was sent to Vienna and we got to Trencin in the evening, shortly before ten.
My university apartment is really nice. Much more than I expected. It is furnished, which I was told, but one does not really know what that means, you know? Well, it has everything: washing machine, TV, Internet, living room separate from bedroom. It is great. A five minute walk to the school, a ten minute walk to my wife's grandmother. I met with the Associate Dean on December 27 and discussed my schedule for the next term.
My second week has just concluded. It began on January 2nd and I must admit I love what I am doing. All the sections are roughly 12-25 students, which I find a good size to have group discussions and activities with. My fellow teachers are very genuine and helpful. Two of them are American as well. I do feel, however, that I am walking the delicate tight rope of not looking or sounding unprofessional or just plain stupid to my fellow colleagues (which in a way hinders the questions I am able to ask them) while speaking with authority in my classes and using techniques that I either 'feel' are correct or from friends and family (who are teachers) told me are fine. I have quickly realized two things. The first is that while the extensive knowledge is there in my brain on the stuff I am teaching, the specific pedagogical information is not. The second is the sheer weight of responsibility over these young minds many of whom are only four or five years younger than I am. A point I hope the vast majority of them do not realize.
Until next time...
I have decided to keep the blog name unchanged. Though my intention now is to write on my experiences in a foreign country and not so much my personal view of specific news stories around the world, I believe that here in Europe a 'worldspin' does occur. Different media, culture, and personal opinions provide a nice seasoning to the dish I hope to give to you, my readers, in the coming months.
A brief summary of my crazy life since I last wrote:
I accepted a teaching position at a university in Trencin, Slovakia last March. It seemed to be an ideal situation to find employment in the foreign city that was the birthplace of my wife and where much of her family still reside. And so it was that in December I moved. For those of you unfamiliar with Slovakia or the Slovak Republic as it is also known as; it was one part of the former Czechoslovakia. The nation peacefully split in 1993 and this small nation literally in the middle (heart) of Europe I now call home.
On December 20th I flew to Munich for my connecting flight to Bratislava, Slovakia. There in the airport with my wife we heard much to our chagrin ten minutes before we were to board our flight an announcement that the flight had been cancelled! (no explanation offered) This set off a mad dash to the Lufthansa service center where after waiting in line for 40 minutes were told that the next flight to Bratislava was at 9:30pm. However, a flight to Vienna was leaving at 6:40pm. We arranged to take this flight, booked in part, I believe since my wife's ticket from Istanbul, where she had been on business, had been 'business' designated and she spoke German throughout the entire conversation with the service clerk (to confirm my suspicion, a woman in front of us speaking English did not get this option, being told instead that the flight was full). Once booked we both prayed all our luggage would take the Vienna plane too. Originally, the University had arranged to have a person pick us up at the Bratislava airport. With our flights cancelled I had to call the gentleman responsible for this nice arrangement and tell him the situation. It was a bit awkward since by the time our new flight was booked and I called Michael, we were supposed to be at the Bratislava airport! All worked out. A driver was sent to Vienna and we got to Trencin in the evening, shortly before ten.
My university apartment is really nice. Much more than I expected. It is furnished, which I was told, but one does not really know what that means, you know? Well, it has everything: washing machine, TV, Internet, living room separate from bedroom. It is great. A five minute walk to the school, a ten minute walk to my wife's grandmother. I met with the Associate Dean on December 27 and discussed my schedule for the next term.
My second week has just concluded. It began on January 2nd and I must admit I love what I am doing. All the sections are roughly 12-25 students, which I find a good size to have group discussions and activities with. My fellow teachers are very genuine and helpful. Two of them are American as well. I do feel, however, that I am walking the delicate tight rope of not looking or sounding unprofessional or just plain stupid to my fellow colleagues (which in a way hinders the questions I am able to ask them) while speaking with authority in my classes and using techniques that I either 'feel' are correct or from friends and family (who are teachers) told me are fine. I have quickly realized two things. The first is that while the extensive knowledge is there in my brain on the stuff I am teaching, the specific pedagogical information is not. The second is the sheer weight of responsibility over these young minds many of whom are only four or five years younger than I am. A point I hope the vast majority of them do not realize.
Until next time...
Sunday, November 19, 2006
A Move, A Pause In Writing & A New Blog
To those of you who have read this blog over the last six months please accept my apologies for not being consistant over the past month. I have tried but things in my personal life have consumed more of my time.
As of November 20, 2006 I will have moved to Europe. This new geographic location was decided upon well before the US midterm elections, of which, I was happy with the outcome. Bi-partisanship is a good thing! The move overseas was precepitated by my wife accepting a promotion at work and with that the upheaval and generalized choas of boxes and suitecases began. I am happy to report that the choas is now concluded.
With the decision to move and my nagging conscience telling me to write a blogpost I settled upon an idea that has entertained every expatriot in Europe-journal ones experiences-which in this technological era contains the sketches a brand-new blog. This point was pressed by a close friend over farewell coffee and I embrace the idea.
So, an end to this blog and the beginnings of a new one.
As of November 20, 2006 I will have moved to Europe. This new geographic location was decided upon well before the US midterm elections, of which, I was happy with the outcome. Bi-partisanship is a good thing! The move overseas was precepitated by my wife accepting a promotion at work and with that the upheaval and generalized choas of boxes and suitecases began. I am happy to report that the choas is now concluded.
With the decision to move and my nagging conscience telling me to write a blogpost I settled upon an idea that has entertained every expatriot in Europe-journal ones experiences-which in this technological era contains the sketches a brand-new blog. This point was pressed by a close friend over farewell coffee and I embrace the idea.
So, an end to this blog and the beginnings of a new one.
Monday, November 06, 2006
Election Predictions
President George W. Bush is hoping to be underestimated one last time. Promising that his Republicans will hold both the House and the Senate on Tuesday, the President used Air Force One to hopscotch the Sun Belt and Midwest as he closed out a campaign that could determine whether he spends the next two years on offense or defense.
This blog has been silent throughout much of the campaign. Personal and professional reasons are to blame. With twenty-four hours to go before the election Emerson Darcy has decided to voice opinions on a few influential races.
• Md.: Steele vs. Cardin
• Pa.: Santorum vs. Casey
• Mo.: Talent vs. McCaskill
• R.I.: Chafee vs. Whitehouse
• Nev.: Ensign vs. Carter
• N.J.: Menendez vs. Kean
• Wash.: Cantwell vs. McGavick
• Conn.: Lieberman vs. Lamont
• Ohio: DeWine vs. Brown
• Mont.: Burns vs. Tester
TN: Corker vs. Ford, Jr.
In Maryland, Democrat Ben Cardin has held Steele off by 7 points in the latest Rasmussen poll. The 10-term congressman from Baltimore has formed strong alliances in the state, including one with his primary opponent, Kweisi Mfume, the former president of the NAACP. In addition, Cardin, who voted against the Iraq-war resolution, has brought in Sen. Barack Obama and former president Bill Clinton to help shore up support among the base. Emerson Darcy predicts a Cardin win.
Pennsylvania’s junior senator, Republican Rick Santorum, is fighting for his political life. After narrowing the lead of Democratic challenger, state treasurer Bob Casey, to single digits in August, polls now show Casey's lead back near double digits. Of these Quaker state players, Emerson Darcy predicts a Santorum loss and President Bush will lose one of his most consistent and conservative allies in the Senate.
It may well be the closest Senate race in the country; Missouri’s showdown between Jim Talent and Claire McCaskill has been remarkably polite. Talent, the Republican incumbent, and McCaskill, the state’s auditor, are both well liked locally. However, Emerson Darcy predicts the conservative state will stay conservative with a Talent victory.
Who would have thought that in the famously independent state of Rhode Island, a left-leaning Republican senator is in a tight race with a party line Democrat. Lincoln Chafee trails Democratic challenger Sheldon Whitehouse by about two points, according to the latest polls. Whitehouse, who was formerly the state's attorney general, has campaigned on an aggressively national platform, saying not just Rhode Island's future but “the structure of power in Washington” is at stake. This may be nice campaign spin but nothing more. Rhode Island will stay independent with incumbent Lincoln Chafee.
Nevada's first-term Republican senator, John Ensign, has faced little strong resistance, from Democrat Jack Carter though Ensign’s once sizable lead has been cut to 9 points in a recent Rasmussen poll. Carter believes that Ensign is a Bush clone, vulnerable in a state where the president's approval ratings are in the 30s. Much depends upon voter turnout tomorrow. Emerson Darcy predicts an upset win for Democrat Jack Carter.
New Jersey seems like an easy Senate seat for the Democrats to hold on to. The incumbent, Democrat Bob Menendez, who was appointed in January when Sen. Jon Corzine became the state's governor, is a seven-term former congressman. The state has been solidly Democrat in the last four presidential elections and disapproval of President Bush is high. However, polls show a dead heat between Menendez and his challenger, Republican Tom Kean Jr., a state senator whose father was formerly the popular governor of New Jersey and grandfather a congressman. Kean's attempts to paint Menendez as the product of a broken New Jersey political system, rocked by scandal over the last decade will work. Governor Corzine will be handed a political defeat as Emerson Darcy predicts a Kean victory.
Washington Senator Maria Cantwell's double-digit lead in January over Republican challenger Mike McGavick has dwindled to four points, according to a recent Rasmussen poll. She is also facing heat from some fellow Democrats over her vote in support of the war in Iraq and her refusal to back troop removal timetables. However, Democratic Senate heavyweights Barack Obama and Russ Feingold, who have both come to Seattle on her behalf and former President Bill Clinton support for her will help her keep her small lead and ultimate victory in tomorrow’s election.
It has been an interesting autumn. The former vice presidential candidate lost his primary to challenger Ned Lamont. Lamont’s victory emboldened progressives and old liberal Democrats across the country. Lieberman’s main vulnerability: steadfast support for the war in Iraq proved fatal in the primary. In a state that is increasingly disdainful of the Bush administration’s Iraq policy such vulnerability is what Mr. Lamont has hammered upon. However, in a three-way general election run, Emerson Darcy predicts that Lamont loses, showing Democrats that an independent bid was Lieberman’s best shot and their worst nightmare.
It’s a political platitude “as Ohio goes, so goes the nation.” If it’s true, the GOP is probably a bit nervous about the Buckeye state. Democrat Sherrod Brown, the progressive congressman from Avon, has taken a narrow lead to unseat two-term incumbent Sen. Mike DeWine. Both parties have pulled out all the stops for their respective candidates: President George Bush has plans to attend a private fund-raiser for the senator in Ohio and both former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Sen. John McCain will lend their support. On the other side of the ticket, Sens. Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton have thrown their high-wattage support behind Brown. Current scandals involving the high-ranking state GOP leaders will affect the popular incumbent and widely perceived moderate nice guy Mr. DeWine. Emerson Darcy predicts Ohio will chose Mr. Brown.
The big question facing Big Sky voters is whether they agree with Jon Tester, an organic farmer, former teacher and the president of the Montana Senate or want to stick by the senator who has brought $2 billion in federal funds to the state over the past 18 years. Montana's three-term Republican senator, Conrad Burns, has turned into one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the country seeking re-election. Burns, ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff is his downfall and Emerson Darcy predicts a Tester win.
In Tennessee, Senate GOP candidate Bob Corker has one advantage that the man he replaced, Sen. Bill Frist, did not: Corker is not an incumbent. Democrat Representative Harold Ford, a shrewd and dogged campaigner, did his best to tie Corker to Bush’s Washington throughout the campaign. But this is a contest that boils down to who is more “Tennessee,” Corker has an out that most other Republican candidates this year did not. Also, the Republican’s cheap, race-baiting TV ad (“Harold, call me”) worked, sadly, but not in the obvious way. The controversy it generated actually was the first time many voters in East Tennessee learned that Ford was an African-American, a fact that can still cost votes in that region and sadly precious ones for Mr. Ford. Emerson Darcy predicts a Corker victory.
It will be an exciting election. Upsets are guaranteed as well as surprises. This is one prediction Emerson Darcy know he is right about. On a final note, all readers are strongly urged to vote! This campaign season has been negative and intense. It is the nature of the beast known as American politics. To those sick of politics, historically, there have never been “good old days” because American politics have always been dirty to some degree. Let this knowledge not be a determent, rather resolve that through participating in the experiment called American democracy you lessen the degree of negativity.
This blog has been silent throughout much of the campaign. Personal and professional reasons are to blame. With twenty-four hours to go before the election Emerson Darcy has decided to voice opinions on a few influential races.
• Md.: Steele vs. Cardin
• Pa.: Santorum vs. Casey
• Mo.: Talent vs. McCaskill
• R.I.: Chafee vs. Whitehouse
• Nev.: Ensign vs. Carter
• N.J.: Menendez vs. Kean
• Wash.: Cantwell vs. McGavick
• Conn.: Lieberman vs. Lamont
• Ohio: DeWine vs. Brown
• Mont.: Burns vs. Tester
TN: Corker vs. Ford, Jr.
In Maryland, Democrat Ben Cardin has held Steele off by 7 points in the latest Rasmussen poll. The 10-term congressman from Baltimore has formed strong alliances in the state, including one with his primary opponent, Kweisi Mfume, the former president of the NAACP. In addition, Cardin, who voted against the Iraq-war resolution, has brought in Sen. Barack Obama and former president Bill Clinton to help shore up support among the base. Emerson Darcy predicts a Cardin win.
Pennsylvania’s junior senator, Republican Rick Santorum, is fighting for his political life. After narrowing the lead of Democratic challenger, state treasurer Bob Casey, to single digits in August, polls now show Casey's lead back near double digits. Of these Quaker state players, Emerson Darcy predicts a Santorum loss and President Bush will lose one of his most consistent and conservative allies in the Senate.
It may well be the closest Senate race in the country; Missouri’s showdown between Jim Talent and Claire McCaskill has been remarkably polite. Talent, the Republican incumbent, and McCaskill, the state’s auditor, are both well liked locally. However, Emerson Darcy predicts the conservative state will stay conservative with a Talent victory.
Who would have thought that in the famously independent state of Rhode Island, a left-leaning Republican senator is in a tight race with a party line Democrat. Lincoln Chafee trails Democratic challenger Sheldon Whitehouse by about two points, according to the latest polls. Whitehouse, who was formerly the state's attorney general, has campaigned on an aggressively national platform, saying not just Rhode Island's future but “the structure of power in Washington” is at stake. This may be nice campaign spin but nothing more. Rhode Island will stay independent with incumbent Lincoln Chafee.
Nevada's first-term Republican senator, John Ensign, has faced little strong resistance, from Democrat Jack Carter though Ensign’s once sizable lead has been cut to 9 points in a recent Rasmussen poll. Carter believes that Ensign is a Bush clone, vulnerable in a state where the president's approval ratings are in the 30s. Much depends upon voter turnout tomorrow. Emerson Darcy predicts an upset win for Democrat Jack Carter.
New Jersey seems like an easy Senate seat for the Democrats to hold on to. The incumbent, Democrat Bob Menendez, who was appointed in January when Sen. Jon Corzine became the state's governor, is a seven-term former congressman. The state has been solidly Democrat in the last four presidential elections and disapproval of President Bush is high. However, polls show a dead heat between Menendez and his challenger, Republican Tom Kean Jr., a state senator whose father was formerly the popular governor of New Jersey and grandfather a congressman. Kean's attempts to paint Menendez as the product of a broken New Jersey political system, rocked by scandal over the last decade will work. Governor Corzine will be handed a political defeat as Emerson Darcy predicts a Kean victory.
Washington Senator Maria Cantwell's double-digit lead in January over Republican challenger Mike McGavick has dwindled to four points, according to a recent Rasmussen poll. She is also facing heat from some fellow Democrats over her vote in support of the war in Iraq and her refusal to back troop removal timetables. However, Democratic Senate heavyweights Barack Obama and Russ Feingold, who have both come to Seattle on her behalf and former President Bill Clinton support for her will help her keep her small lead and ultimate victory in tomorrow’s election.
It has been an interesting autumn. The former vice presidential candidate lost his primary to challenger Ned Lamont. Lamont’s victory emboldened progressives and old liberal Democrats across the country. Lieberman’s main vulnerability: steadfast support for the war in Iraq proved fatal in the primary. In a state that is increasingly disdainful of the Bush administration’s Iraq policy such vulnerability is what Mr. Lamont has hammered upon. However, in a three-way general election run, Emerson Darcy predicts that Lamont loses, showing Democrats that an independent bid was Lieberman’s best shot and their worst nightmare.
It’s a political platitude “as Ohio goes, so goes the nation.” If it’s true, the GOP is probably a bit nervous about the Buckeye state. Democrat Sherrod Brown, the progressive congressman from Avon, has taken a narrow lead to unseat two-term incumbent Sen. Mike DeWine. Both parties have pulled out all the stops for their respective candidates: President George Bush has plans to attend a private fund-raiser for the senator in Ohio and both former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Sen. John McCain will lend their support. On the other side of the ticket, Sens. Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton have thrown their high-wattage support behind Brown. Current scandals involving the high-ranking state GOP leaders will affect the popular incumbent and widely perceived moderate nice guy Mr. DeWine. Emerson Darcy predicts Ohio will chose Mr. Brown.
The big question facing Big Sky voters is whether they agree with Jon Tester, an organic farmer, former teacher and the president of the Montana Senate or want to stick by the senator who has brought $2 billion in federal funds to the state over the past 18 years. Montana's three-term Republican senator, Conrad Burns, has turned into one of the most vulnerable Republicans in the country seeking re-election. Burns, ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff is his downfall and Emerson Darcy predicts a Tester win.
In Tennessee, Senate GOP candidate Bob Corker has one advantage that the man he replaced, Sen. Bill Frist, did not: Corker is not an incumbent. Democrat Representative Harold Ford, a shrewd and dogged campaigner, did his best to tie Corker to Bush’s Washington throughout the campaign. But this is a contest that boils down to who is more “Tennessee,” Corker has an out that most other Republican candidates this year did not. Also, the Republican’s cheap, race-baiting TV ad (“Harold, call me”) worked, sadly, but not in the obvious way. The controversy it generated actually was the first time many voters in East Tennessee learned that Ford was an African-American, a fact that can still cost votes in that region and sadly precious ones for Mr. Ford. Emerson Darcy predicts a Corker victory.
It will be an exciting election. Upsets are guaranteed as well as surprises. This is one prediction Emerson Darcy know he is right about. On a final note, all readers are strongly urged to vote! This campaign season has been negative and intense. It is the nature of the beast known as American politics. To those sick of politics, historically, there have never been “good old days” because American politics have always been dirty to some degree. Let this knowledge not be a determent, rather resolve that through participating in the experiment called American democracy you lessen the degree of negativity.
Monday, October 30, 2006
The Counter-Punch
As I perused the many online articles today I could not believe my luck when I came across Mr. Klein's.
I had made up my mind to write a piece today on the very same topic and after reading Mr. Klein's have decided to include it below for visitor's to read.
The point of Mr. Klein's article as well as my attempt in today's blog was to point out how the Democrats have found their voice in 2006. It was silent in 2002 and hardly heard in 2004 much to the discredit of standard-bearer John Kerry. Now, however, it seems that emboldied by scandal and public unrest, distrust, and general tiredness of Republican control the citizens are interested in a change. This is good.
The reasons however, are a bit difficult to understand. The questions are: 1. is Democratic answers to the issues of the day REALLY different than their Republican opponents? And 2. Campaign style is nice, but more importantly is substance reaching the public?
I will not try to answer these questions. I leave that to my readers and those voters out there. If real change is to occur it is hoped that it is for the right reasons not the obvious.
Finally, though it is good to see the Democrats fighting, unified at last, at least on a defensive strategy, it is hoped that the substance of ideas spoken of above is present if the Democratic Party is offered the chance to serve the American public.
http://www.time.com/time/columnist/klein/article/0,9565,1551985,00.html
I had made up my mind to write a piece today on the very same topic and after reading Mr. Klein's have decided to include it below for visitor's to read.
The point of Mr. Klein's article as well as my attempt in today's blog was to point out how the Democrats have found their voice in 2006. It was silent in 2002 and hardly heard in 2004 much to the discredit of standard-bearer John Kerry. Now, however, it seems that emboldied by scandal and public unrest, distrust, and general tiredness of Republican control the citizens are interested in a change. This is good.
The reasons however, are a bit difficult to understand. The questions are: 1. is Democratic answers to the issues of the day REALLY different than their Republican opponents? And 2. Campaign style is nice, but more importantly is substance reaching the public?
I will not try to answer these questions. I leave that to my readers and those voters out there. If real change is to occur it is hoped that it is for the right reasons not the obvious.
Finally, though it is good to see the Democrats fighting, unified at last, at least on a defensive strategy, it is hoped that the substance of ideas spoken of above is present if the Democratic Party is offered the chance to serve the American public.
http://www.time.com/time/columnist/klein/article/0,9565,1551985,00.html
Friday, October 27, 2006
No-brainer
The White House said today that Vice President Dick Cheney was not talking about a torture technique known as "water boarding" when he said dunking terrorism suspects in water during questioning was a "no-brainer." Such comments were made in an interview Tuesday with WDAY of Fargo, North Dakota, when Cheney was asked if "a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives." The vice president had replied, "Well, it's a no-brainer for me, but for a while there I was criticized as being the vice president for torture. We don't torture. That's not what we're involved in."
Peppered with questions about the remarks, White House spokesman Tony Snow said Cheney did not interpret the question as referring to water boarding and the vice president did not make any comments about water boarding. He said the question put to Cheney was loosely worded.
Human rights groups have complained that Cheney's comments amount to an endorsement of water boarding, in, which the victim believes he is about to drown. President Bush, asked about Cheney's comments, said, "This country doesn't torture. We're not going to torture." Such a comment from the president should be seen as following the standard response from his White House, though such deniability is just stupid considering the media attention paid to detainees in Cuba; in addition to secret CIA prison camps throughout Europe.
As reported on CNN.com, Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA, said in a statement, "What's really a no-brainer is that no U.S. official, much less a vice president, should champion torture. Vice President Cheney's advocacy of water boarding sets a new human rights low at a time when human rights is already scraping the bottom of the Bush administration barrel."
With US mid-term elections a week away the White House has given the Democrats some material to campaign with. The question is will they?
Peppered with questions about the remarks, White House spokesman Tony Snow said Cheney did not interpret the question as referring to water boarding and the vice president did not make any comments about water boarding. He said the question put to Cheney was loosely worded.
Human rights groups have complained that Cheney's comments amount to an endorsement of water boarding, in, which the victim believes he is about to drown. President Bush, asked about Cheney's comments, said, "This country doesn't torture. We're not going to torture." Such a comment from the president should be seen as following the standard response from his White House, though such deniability is just stupid considering the media attention paid to detainees in Cuba; in addition to secret CIA prison camps throughout Europe.
As reported on CNN.com, Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA, said in a statement, "What's really a no-brainer is that no U.S. official, much less a vice president, should champion torture. Vice President Cheney's advocacy of water boarding sets a new human rights low at a time when human rights is already scraping the bottom of the Bush administration barrel."
With US mid-term elections a week away the White House has given the Democrats some material to campaign with. The question is will they?
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Shameful
"They say all politics is local, but it's not always the case," Michael J. Fox says in the 30-second commercial backing Senate candidate Claire McCaskill in Missouri, a Democrat. "What you do in Missouri matters to millions of Americans -- Americans like me."
Simple and straight forward; but is quite evident is that Mr. Fox is shaking. Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease and supports research on embryonic stem cell for a potential cure, also has lent his celebrity to Democrats Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, running for the Senate in Maryland, and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, who is seeking re-election; both of whom also back stem cell research.
The ads have triggered a backlash, with some such as conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh criticizing them as exploitive. Limbaugh went as far as to claim that Fox was "either off his medication or acting."
To be fair, Mr. Fox has acted sporadically in smaller roles, such as in a several-episode guest appearance earlier this year on ABC's "Boston Legal," playing a business tycoon with cancer and in other roles since his diagnosis Fox generally has sought to control his movements, though his illness was evident.
What is most depressing from this episode is the fact that Mr. Limbaugh’s comments are so shameful considering his own situation. A recovering drug addict, Mr. Limbaugh asked for compassion and understanding from fans and opponents during his ordeal and apparent relapse a few months ago.
Put aside the fact that Mr. Fox made his comments as support for a Democratic candidate in an election. Put aside the fact that Mr. Limbaugh, a conservative “shock” talk show host is opposed to any Democratic victory November 7, 2006. Both share a physical problem, though let us be fair, Parkinson’s is of a completely different magnitude; this however does not excuse the fact that Mr. Limbaugh decided to attack Mr. Fox.
Simple and straight forward; but is quite evident is that Mr. Fox is shaking. Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease and supports research on embryonic stem cell for a potential cure, also has lent his celebrity to Democrats Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, running for the Senate in Maryland, and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, who is seeking re-election; both of whom also back stem cell research.
The ads have triggered a backlash, with some such as conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh criticizing them as exploitive. Limbaugh went as far as to claim that Fox was "either off his medication or acting."
To be fair, Mr. Fox has acted sporadically in smaller roles, such as in a several-episode guest appearance earlier this year on ABC's "Boston Legal," playing a business tycoon with cancer and in other roles since his diagnosis Fox generally has sought to control his movements, though his illness was evident.
What is most depressing from this episode is the fact that Mr. Limbaugh’s comments are so shameful considering his own situation. A recovering drug addict, Mr. Limbaugh asked for compassion and understanding from fans and opponents during his ordeal and apparent relapse a few months ago.
Put aside the fact that Mr. Fox made his comments as support for a Democratic candidate in an election. Put aside the fact that Mr. Limbaugh, a conservative “shock” talk show host is opposed to any Democratic victory November 7, 2006. Both share a physical problem, though let us be fair, Parkinson’s is of a completely different magnitude; this however does not excuse the fact that Mr. Limbaugh decided to attack Mr. Fox.
Monday, October 23, 2006
The Siege
Republicans are battling to keep control of Congress. But polls and analysts in both parties increasingly suggest Democrats will capture the House and possibly the Senate on Election Day Nov. 7. Democrats need a 15-seat pickup to regain the House and a gain of six seats to claim the Senate. Everything could change overnight for President Bush, who has governed for most of the past six years with a Republican Congress and with little support from Democrats. Democratic victories essentially could block his remaining agenda and usher in a period of intense partisan bickering over nearly every measure to come before Congress. This means that a loss of either chamber also could subject the Bush Administration to endless congressional inquiries and investigations.
Some of President Bush's fighting in the trenches is likely to be with fellow Republicans as they seek to find a new standard bearer for 2008, and distance themselves from an unpopular war, the unpopular president who waged it, and congressional scandals that include inappropriate e-mails to House pages from ex-Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla. Already, Republicans are showing divisions on Iraq policy. Fresh skepticism has come from Senate Armed Services Chairman John Warner of Virginia, Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, a longtime Bush family loyalist.
What is certain however, if Republicans lose their majorities, it will be that much harder for Bush to hold together already splintering GOP cohesion on Iraq. While the Senate has been difficult for Bush, even with GOP control, the House for most of his presidency has delivered for him. That might change now. The White House traditionally loses seats in midterm congressional races. The most recent exception was 2002, when the Republicans picked up seats. President Bush has barely over two years left. The loss of either house in voting next month could hasten his descent into a lame-duck presidency.
Many Democrats see the upcoming elections as a mirror image of 1994, with the parties reversed. Polls in 2006 show a more dramatic tilt toward the Democrats than polling in 1994 showed a tilt toward Republicans. But redistricting has made far fewer congressional districts competitive. A Democratic takeover of one or more chambers would all but guarantee that Bush would not get his Social Security overhaul or further tax cuts through Congress.
Some of President Bush's fighting in the trenches is likely to be with fellow Republicans as they seek to find a new standard bearer for 2008, and distance themselves from an unpopular war, the unpopular president who waged it, and congressional scandals that include inappropriate e-mails to House pages from ex-Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla. Already, Republicans are showing divisions on Iraq policy. Fresh skepticism has come from Senate Armed Services Chairman John Warner of Virginia, Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, a longtime Bush family loyalist.
What is certain however, if Republicans lose their majorities, it will be that much harder for Bush to hold together already splintering GOP cohesion on Iraq. While the Senate has been difficult for Bush, even with GOP control, the House for most of his presidency has delivered for him. That might change now. The White House traditionally loses seats in midterm congressional races. The most recent exception was 2002, when the Republicans picked up seats. President Bush has barely over two years left. The loss of either house in voting next month could hasten his descent into a lame-duck presidency.
Many Democrats see the upcoming elections as a mirror image of 1994, with the parties reversed. Polls in 2006 show a more dramatic tilt toward the Democrats than polling in 1994 showed a tilt toward Republicans. But redistricting has made far fewer congressional districts competitive. A Democratic takeover of one or more chambers would all but guarantee that Bush would not get his Social Security overhaul or further tax cuts through Congress.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Darfur Violence Spreads To Chad
This is something that was inevitable. It was not a matter of how, but rather of when.
Sudanese Janjaweed militia and Chadian rebels have attacked at least 10 villages in southeast Chad in the past two weeks, killing over 100 people and displacing more than 3,000, local and U.N. officials now say.
The attacks are part of a spillover of violence from Sudan's western Darfur region, where violence has increased as seasonal riverbeds dry out after annual rains, becoming passable to rebel jeeps and Janjaweed on horses or camels. As reported by Reuters,"first we were attacked by local Chadian Arabs and the Janjaweed," said Usman Mucktar Hassan, sitting exhausted and dusty after fleeing his devastated village of Djimese Djarma.
The rainy season offered a brief respite from violence as wadis became impassable. But with the rains almost over, horses can again get around and in a few weeks rebels will be able to circulate freely in their trademark Toyota pickups. Locals say 10 villages have been attacked since October 4. While intervention by the Chadian National Army and local authorities appears to have calmed the situation since Saturday, it remains precarious.
UNHCR is seeking a secure site for Chadian civilians who have fled violence, now estimated at 55,000. However, the apparent alliance of Chadian rebels with Sudanese Janjaweed also increases border tension, with Chadian and Sudanese officials trading blame over rebel attacks despite a string of top-level agreements to mend ties.
The victims have always been and will remain, the women and children. Since, no international pressure seems to be effective, many around the world who care deeply about this issue are heart broken at such news. Prayers to those caught in the middle.
Sudanese Janjaweed militia and Chadian rebels have attacked at least 10 villages in southeast Chad in the past two weeks, killing over 100 people and displacing more than 3,000, local and U.N. officials now say.
The attacks are part of a spillover of violence from Sudan's western Darfur region, where violence has increased as seasonal riverbeds dry out after annual rains, becoming passable to rebel jeeps and Janjaweed on horses or camels. As reported by Reuters,"first we were attacked by local Chadian Arabs and the Janjaweed," said Usman Mucktar Hassan, sitting exhausted and dusty after fleeing his devastated village of Djimese Djarma.
The rainy season offered a brief respite from violence as wadis became impassable. But with the rains almost over, horses can again get around and in a few weeks rebels will be able to circulate freely in their trademark Toyota pickups. Locals say 10 villages have been attacked since October 4. While intervention by the Chadian National Army and local authorities appears to have calmed the situation since Saturday, it remains precarious.
UNHCR is seeking a secure site for Chadian civilians who have fled violence, now estimated at 55,000. However, the apparent alliance of Chadian rebels with Sudanese Janjaweed also increases border tension, with Chadian and Sudanese officials trading blame over rebel attacks despite a string of top-level agreements to mend ties.
The victims have always been and will remain, the women and children. Since, no international pressure seems to be effective, many around the world who care deeply about this issue are heart broken at such news. Prayers to those caught in the middle.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
The First Domino?
Public polling underscores the political difficulty for Republicans, particularly DeWine and gubernatorial candidate J. Kenneth Blackwell. A New York Times/CBS News survey reported that 70 percent of Ohioans surveyed said the state and the nation were on the wrong track. Nearly two-thirds rated the economy as bad, suggesting more anxiety about jobs and pocketbook issues than elsewhere in the country. Sixty percent disapprove of Bush's handling of the war.
For more than a decade, Ohio was the place where Democratic dreams went to die.
Now, in the state that sealed President Bush's 2004 re-election, even Republicans concede Rep. Ted Strickland is on track to become the first Democratic governor in 16 years. At the same time, Rep. Sherrod Brown has clawed his way to a large lead in the polls over GOP Sen. Mike DeWine. Democrats have led for weeks in races for two House seats long in Republican hands, and party officials talk giddily of snatching two or three more seats, gains that would almost certainly portend an end to GOP control of the House.
Already Republicans have abandoned plans to advertise or run their highly regarded get-out-the-vote program in races to replace Brown or Strickland in the House. Republicans dismiss talk of a political tidal wave. Increasingly, their goal however, has been to minimize losses at a time of widespread voter discontent over the economy, the war in Iraq and corruption. Sensing danger, they urge voters not to lash out indiscriminately, despite unhappiness with President Bush, outgoing Republican Gov. Bob Taft and a steady diet of scandals.
Still, not even Democrats could dream up the corruption double feature that has unspooled in recent days, GOP Rep. Bob Ney pleading guilty in the Jack Abramoff scandal last Friday, and party fundraiser Tom Noe going on trial in a separate state corruption probe Monday. All in all, Democrats should feel very good about their chances, though with prior election experiences against President Bush and Republicans chances are fleeting.
For more than a decade, Ohio was the place where Democratic dreams went to die.
Now, in the state that sealed President Bush's 2004 re-election, even Republicans concede Rep. Ted Strickland is on track to become the first Democratic governor in 16 years. At the same time, Rep. Sherrod Brown has clawed his way to a large lead in the polls over GOP Sen. Mike DeWine. Democrats have led for weeks in races for two House seats long in Republican hands, and party officials talk giddily of snatching two or three more seats, gains that would almost certainly portend an end to GOP control of the House.
Already Republicans have abandoned plans to advertise or run their highly regarded get-out-the-vote program in races to replace Brown or Strickland in the House. Republicans dismiss talk of a political tidal wave. Increasingly, their goal however, has been to minimize losses at a time of widespread voter discontent over the economy, the war in Iraq and corruption. Sensing danger, they urge voters not to lash out indiscriminately, despite unhappiness with President Bush, outgoing Republican Gov. Bob Taft and a steady diet of scandals.
Still, not even Democrats could dream up the corruption double feature that has unspooled in recent days, GOP Rep. Bob Ney pleading guilty in the Jack Abramoff scandal last Friday, and party fundraiser Tom Noe going on trial in a separate state corruption probe Monday. All in all, Democrats should feel very good about their chances, though with prior election experiences against President Bush and Republicans chances are fleeting.
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