acidus wrote :
The only argument people can make is the game was misleadingly labeled, causing them to purchase something more extreme then they thought. The argument is so flawed. What are these people who are pissed about being "deceived" so mad about? That they are cool giving their kids a game where they can decapiate people with a sword, shoot cops, take drugs, and bang hookers, but no no no, being able to see 2 animated characters have sexing is just too much! That is as hypocritical as it is horrible parenting.

This is utterly a waste of my governments time.

[ 100% agreement from here. I think this is the Left's weakest plank. Besides making us all look like whiny prudes, I don't even think it's good politics. I recognize this country is in the midst of an anti-enlightenment phase, but honestly, why should we do our opponents' work for them?

Much has been made of the way in which this country gives extreme violence a pass, but gets all twisted by panties or, god forbid, a bare breast on primetime. It's ridiculous.

Social programs, good.
Clean environment, good.
Equal rights, good.
Censorship, bad.

-k]

CNN.com - Clinton seeks video game sex scene probe

Rattle wrote:

Two things that have been said often apply here. First, Chinese foreign policy consists of one word: oil. Second, its likely that any conflicts with China would be fought out on an economic battlefield.

So what does everything think? Should we be concerned about this?

There is a book that talks about China's energy grabs. This book was written before 9/11, with half the book talking about oil, and half talking about water.

The South China sea has the 3rd largest proven oil reserves in the world. The 1st is of course the Middle East (inside which the largest is on the "border" between Omar, Yeman, and Saudi Arabia. The 2nd largest in the gulf is in Iraq). The 2nd largest proven reserve in the world is the Caspian Sea. The book (remember, pre-9/11) mentions Hamid Karzai, and attempts by the US to build an oil pipeline across Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, including our deals with the Taliban.

I'll come back to that, on to China. The UN has resolutions stating countries have mineral rights for 200 miles off their coasts. Lets look at that map here

China has been claiming all these islands in the middle of the SCS, because they desire all this oil. These "islands" are covered by the tides for 3 months of the year! China basically claims the whole SCS. The author lists something like 13 or so military conflicts through 2000 between naval ships of the countries bordering the SCS. China has even invaded and controls some islands that belong to the Philippines. The author suggests that China isn't building its navy to invade Taiwan, but to control the SCS.

Now, frame this in world politics. China is our largest enemy right now. They are advanced rapidly both technologically and economically. They have a huge standing army and their needs for oil are increasing at a very large rate, and their engery demands will surpass the US in 30 years. It is clear what the Iraq war is about: securing vital oil resources that we need to remain a super power. Human rights and "democracy" are just as worthless of an excuse as Germany saying it invaded Poland because of Polish saboteurs.

RE: CNOOC: Unocal Bid Not About Politics - Yahoo! News

We did not expect Mr. Bush would apologize for the misinformation that helped lead us into this war, or for the catastrophic mistakes his team made in running the military operation. But we had hoped he would resist the temptation to raise the bloody flag of 9/11 over and over again to justify a war in a country that had nothing whatsoever to do with the terrorist attacks. We had hoped that he would seize the moment to tell the nation how he will define victory, and to give Americans a specific sense of how he intends to reach that goal - beyond repeating the same wishful scenario that he has been describing since the invasion.

Sadly, Mr. Bush wasted his opportunity last night, giving a speech that only answered questions no one was asking. He told the nation, again and again, that a stable and democratic Iraq would be worth American sacrifices, while the nation was wondering whether American sacrifices could actually produce a stable and democratic Iraq.

President Bush's Speech About Iraq - New York Times

I'm totally ashamed that this happened.

[ Not that any die hard war supporter will believe anything in the New York Times, but I'm still glad this stuff is getting reported. Whether it's stupidity or cognative dissonance or just plain cruelty that permits people to be war mongers, I don't know, but the truth is that these sorts of things have happened in wars since prehistory. In my mind, it's a major reason to be antiwar, as if all the collateral deaths from "precision" bomb and missile strikes, and all the killing in general weren't enough. All these people in the world that are shocked *SHOCKED* that Good Americans could be cabaple of this sort of action are either naive or liars. Humans have a tendency to do awful things to each other when they're whipped into a frenzy, given a generic "enemy" to hate, and let loose with little supervision and lots of power. It's a recipe for the lowest sort of ignoble behavior from the kind of people predisposed to such. These days, at least, some of that is coming home.

Obviously, I don't think most of our military either acts this way or condones it -- I have great respect for people willing to risk themselves to protect their country, even if I'm unconvinced that the vehicle chosen was correct. Even good people do terrible things in war, and evil people do worse. Maybe that's why they call it hell. -k]

Account of Torture and Death of Iraqi by Americans

] Thousands of people rioted this week in a village in
] southeastern China, overturning police cars and driving
] away officers who had tried to stop elderly villagers
] protesting against pollution from nearby factories.
]
] By this afternoon, three days after the riot, witnesses
] say crowds had convened in Huaxi Village in Zhejiang
] Province to gawk at a tableau of destroyed police cars
] and shattered windows. Police officers outside the
] village were reportedly blocking reporters from entering
] the scene but local people, reached by telephone, said
] villagers controlled the riot area.

[ It seems like this is becoming almost a trend. China's changing a lot, and fast, and I feel like there's a lot of anger that's not going to be resolved simply.

The article, I think, mildly suggests that the hubbub over Japan's textbooks was encouraged by the government as a way to distract attention from this event. I dunno, possible I guess. -k]

NYT | Thousands of Chinese Villagers Protest Factory Pollution

] PINELLAS PARK, Florida (CNN) -- Terri Schiavo, the
] 41-year-old brain-damaged woman who became the
] centerpiece of a national debate over life and death,
] died Thursday morning, nearly two weeks after doctors
] removed the feeding tube that had sustained her for more
] than a decade.

Hopefully she's finally at peace.

CNN.com - Terri Schiavo has died - Mar 31, 2005

] "My story is based on fiction," said Poole, who faces a
] second-degree felony terrorist threatening charge. "It's
] a fake story. I made it up. I've been working on one of
] my short stories, (and) the short story they found was
] about zombies. Yes, it did say a high school. It was
] about a high school over ran by zombies."
]
] Even so, police say the nature of the story makes it a
] felony. "Anytime you make any threat or possess matter
] involving a school or function it's a felony in the state
] of Kentucky," said Winchester Police detective Steven
] Caudill.

There is an obvious comment to make about this jackass but I've been advised not to taunt happy fun ball.

[ This story is a little too lacking to make any kind of actual assessment. I'd have to read the journal outtake, I guess, and see if there was any context to support the fact that it was part of a zombie story. Still, by default, I tend side with the kid, as I think, in general, police and school administrators aren't the most tolerant of anything that seems subversive or angry at all. Perhaps I'm being unfair, but, *shrug*. -k]

Student Arrested For Writing Zombie Story

] Second. The US disclosed its attempt to topple the
] political system in the DPRK at any cost, threatening it
] with a nuclear stick. This compels us to take a measure
] to bolster its nuclear weapons arsenal in order to
] protect the ideology, system, freedom and democracy
] chosen by its people.
]
] It is the spirit of the Korean people true to the Songun
] politics to respond to good faith and the use of force in
] kind.
]
] We had already taken the resolute action of pulling out
] of the NPT and have manufactured nukes for self-defence
] to cope with the Bush administration's evermore
] undisguised policy to isolate and stifle the DPRK.
]
] Its nuclear weapons will remain nuclear deterrent for
] self-defence under any circumstances.

They have tested numerous missiles as well. If they do have a working device, its likely deliverable. Not good.

[ Well, Japan doesn't seem to think so... In the NYT article they quote a Japanese official essentially telling the DPRK to "Roll up, Bitch". Regardless, I agreed that it's pretty clearly not a good situation. -k]

BBC | North Korea: We got nukes, phbttt

] "If Metallica still needs money," [Wilco frontman Tweedy] almost
] whispered, "then there's something really, really wrong." He
] would protest this extremism, he explained, by living a
] different life. By inviting, by creating, by inspiring
] music, and by ignoring wars about plastic.
]
]
] If this war is to end, it needs authentic voices. We have
] had enough preaching. The outrage is beginning to wear
] thin. It will take bands like Wilco, who live a different
] example and whisper an explanation to those who want to
] hear. Peace takes a practice. One that only artists can
] make real.

[ Lessig on the music war. -k]

Wired 13.02: VIEW - Why Wilco is the Future of Music

] Abd El-Rahman Al-Zobari, surveying the damage to his
] house, said he and his friends are not going to vote on
] Sunday. "Is this what they call democracy?" he said. "We
] don't want democracy that comes on the back of a tank."

[ Freedom is on the march.

This phrase has popped up in talking points for months, and the imagery is simply stunning. Indeed, what better way to convey freedom than the lockstep of a well armed military. -k]

CNN.com - Election leaves war-weary Fallujans cold - Jan 24, 2005