Achtung, Barack: what's wrong with this picture?

Why, pray tell, is a junior senator from Illinois currently the toast of Europe?
(Meanwhile, back in the states, Barack Obama's running mate is just toast.)
This is the world we live in, where platitudes win hearts, minds and votes.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think John McCain is any more substantive than Barack Obama. That being said, the mainstream media's infatuation with Obama's oratory is nothing short of sickening.
To watch these love-struck adults gushing like pubescent teenagers over Obama is embarrassing and unprofessional.
By the way, does the fact that 200,000 Germans showed up to hear Obama speak today make you more or less inclined to vote for him?
Just a thought.
I don't know why I bother, of course. I'm writing in Ron Paul no matter what.

Swapping Samir: Lebanese terrorist back in Beirut

Some news passes without much notice and, as far as I can tell, this will probably be another example.
Samir Kuntar, the lowest form of life, was pardoned by Israeli President Shimon Peres and released into Lebanon today in exchange for the bodies of two kidnapped IDF soldiers.
And he wasn't alone.
Four other Lebanese militants were also released back across the border--holdovers from the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon.
The fact that this deal was approved by a huge majority of the Israeli cabinet (including prime minister Ehud Olmert) is absolutely unforgivable.
The Israeli government knew their two missing soldiers were dead, but it didn't matter.
Israel has a well-worn tradition of asymmetrical swaps such as this one, in order that no soldier, dead or alive, is left behind.
The tradition is honorable in theory and wrong-headed in practice.
Samir Kuntar was imprisoned in Israel after a gruesome double-homicide during a cross-border raid into northern Israel in 1979.
Kuntar, during a shootout with police, shot and killed a 31-year-old Israeli at close range and in front of his 4-year-old daughter. He then turned his gun on the child, though he did not pull the trigger.
No, he crushed her skull will the stock of his rifle.
This man is free today, and Arab leaders, including the shameless Mahmoud Abbas (PLO), are celebrating his return.
What's most disturbing is the fact that Hezbollah planned all along to retrieve Kantar in this manner.
Time Magazine reported Hezbollah's intentions two years ago:

It is this man, Samir Kuntar, the sole surviving member of the cell, that Hizballah leader Hasan Nasrallah promised to liberate this year from an Israeli prison by kidnapping Israeli soldiers to hold as a bargaining chip, an act Hizballah pulled off two weeks ago, precipitating the current fighting across the Israel-Lebanon border.

Had the Israelis made the swap sooner, they could have received the prisoners alive--now that's a tragedy.
Instead, they get this in the Arab press straight from Beirut:

"I promise my people and dear ones in Palestine that I and my dear comrades in the valiant Islamic resistance are returning." --Samir Kuntar quoted in Al-Jazeera

In a column in the Jerusalem Post today, Herb Keinon tried to explain the lop-sided deal to baffled non-Israelis like me:

No other country in the world would have made such a deal, critics of the exchange have said. And they are right. But no other country in the world bears the scars that Israel does, nor the almost absolute knowledge that there will be other wars to fight in this generation, other sacrifices to be made, and that people we all know will be called upon to make them.

And while I appreciate his flowery prose, he's effectively put a soft justification for bad geopolitical business.
This policy, and others like it, virtually ensures the prospect of a violent future for Israel.
He went on to say that no matter how inconceivable the deal was, Israel must adhere to the policy of leaving no one behind.
"This is what they tell their soldiers," he writes. "And it is essential for future confrontations that their soldiers believe them."
I believe what is essential for future confrontations is to do everything in your power to avoid them.
Hizbollah is stronger today than they were yesterday, and they have Ehud Olmert and his lost boys to thank.
David Ben-Gurion just rolled over in his grave.

What this means

--The price for kidnapped Israeli soldiers just spiked. Expect Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and their ilk to respond in kind.

--If two dead soldiers are worth a cause celebre like Kuntar, four militant and 190 bodies, what might a living soldier fetch for Israel's enemies? More to the point, why even be greedy when a dead soldier is worth so much?

--Here's a guess: In 1985 the return of three living soldiers cost Israel 1,100 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners.

Kid Rock: A lyricist on training wheels

Normally I steer clear of FM radio in favor of news and sports talk, but on those rare occasions when there is nothing of any substance on the AM band, I flip over.
Lately, it seems that every time I go the way of FM I hear one song and one song only: Kid Rock's All Summer Long.
Even though we share Michigan roots, I've never been much of a Kid Rock fan. In my younger days, I totally dismissed lyrics as a factor in determining my like or dislike for a given song. These days, however, I actually listen to words like these:

Splashing through the sand bar
Talking by the campfire
It's the simple things in life, like when and where
We didn't have no internet
But man I never will forget
The way the moonlight shined upon her hair

Ok, I know what you are thinking: "He's such a little smart aleck to critique the use of the word "shined" instead of the preferred "shone".
Well, you're wrong.
I'm not even going to mention the multiple negation.
I am just wondering what the internet has to do with being able to remember the way the moonlight shone upon this girl's hair.
Do most people need the internet to remember something like that?
And as if the lyrics weren't ridiculous enough, the song is a tribute (read knock-off) of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama.
Hearing the old riff isn't a bad thing, I guess; it just takes a little of the shine off when Kid rhymes the word "things" with the word "things".

Kid: I know you are trying to reinvent yourself these days, trading in your tarnished wannabe hip-hop image for something down home, but give us a break.

At least give us something like this: Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the boogy.

Economist: Scenes from la frontera

I'm not an expert on the border cultures of the southern United States, but I do have more than a passing interest in the region.
After the attacks of September 11, 2001, our porous southern border with Mexico has become one of the most widely debated issues in this country.
At its core, the issue is one of costs and benefits. There are many benefits, some cultural and most economic, to having an open (though not unfettered) border.
But there is, we generally agree, a major cost: our national security.
An open border guarantees, at least under present conditions, a fairly deep reserve pool of cheap labor; but, it also guarantees a continued, unchecked, mass immigration into this country--a daunting diaspora in these times.
With that in mind, we're building a wall--really, really, long one.
And, just like the construction of interstate highways in 1950s and 1960s adversely affected how communities interacted with one another, this wall changes things.

Take 15 minutes and read this report recently published in my favorite magazine, The Economist. This will give you a better idea of why this issue isn't as cut and dried as so many believe it to be:

Economist: Scenes from la frontera

Recession brewing: FIVEbucks to close 600 stores

The best indicators of an economic recession aren't always found on Wall Street.
(For the record there are three Starbucks locations on Wall street.)
I'm not saying the Big Board isn't an indicator, of course; it's just somewhat more complex.
Me, I prefer to look at consumer spending on elastic goods.
Coffee, for most of us, is an elastic good unlike water or gasoline. Demand for those goods stays relatively static in spite of flucuations in price.
Demand for coffee, 5-dollar coffee specifically, does change.
Disposable income, for many of us, is a contradiction in terms and businesses that prey on what's left over of our incomes are feeling the crunch.
The closing of nearly 600 Starbucks locations may not be entirely indicative of the harsh economic landscape in this country and elsewhere. One could argue that the corporation stretched its beans far too thin. But I digress...

Here is the report from MarketWatch:

Starbucks to close 600 U.S. stores, cut 12,000 jobs

By Matt Andrejczak, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO -- Starbucks Corp., dragged down by a slowing U.S. economy, is pulling the plug on 600 of its underperforming U.S. coffee shops and trimming the number of stores it had planned to open over the coming year.
The shutdowns, starting now and running through March 2009, are far more than the coffee-shop chain had originally planned. In January, Starbucks said it planned to close 100 U.S. stores as part of the transformation plan set in motion by Howard Schultz shortly after he returned as CEO.
The move will eliminate 8% of the roughly 7,250 stores operated by Starbucks and cut 7% of its global workforce, or as many as 12,000 employees. The stores, the majority of which are located near another Starbucks, were opened from 2006 through 2008.
Combined, the stores aren't profitable and are spread across major U.S. markets.
"We believe we've improved the profit potential of the U.S. store portfolio," Starbucks Chief Financial Officer Pete Bocian said in a conference call.
Starbucks has admitted it was stung by the subprime mortgage mess in California and Florida, states that make up almost a third of the company's U.S. retail revenue. This hurt profits and foot traffic at its U.S. stores. Starbucks reported operating profit in its U.S. business fell 27.5% for the quarter ended March 30 from last year.
Under Schultz's leadership, the Seattle company grew at a frenzied pace following its IPO in June 1992. But last year, rapid expansion looked to be catching up to Starbucks and Schultz returned to spearhead a plan to improve the company's slowing U.S. business.

Local NAACP Prez 'not interested in looking at anyone's underwear'

Recently, Flint's new police chief decided to follow several other jurisdictions all across the country by enacting an ordinance against sagging pants.

Here is the AP report that ran in the Chicago Tribune:

Flint cracks down on sagging pants

Associated Press
June 27, 2008
FLINT, Mich. - Flint's new police chief wants to crack down on sagging pants that expose too much skin.

"This immoral `self expression' goes beyond freedom of expression; it rises to the crime of indecent exposure/disorderly persons," interim Chief David Dicks said in a memo Friday.

Under the order, anyone with exposed buttocks could be arrested on a misdemeanor charge of being a disorderly person, punishable by up to a $500 fine and three months in jail.

Dicks, who was appointed to his position June 2, said in the memo the measure was prompted by "a significant number of complaints from citizens."

But some are concerned that stepped-up enforcement could violate the Constitution or disproportionately target African-American men.

The American Civil Liberties Union has opposed clothing restrictions in other cities.

Greg Gibbs, an ACLU attorney, told The Flint Journal he plans to research the issue to see whether the crackdown violates the right to free expression.

Frances Gilcreast, president of the Flint chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said she is "not interested in looking at anyone's underwear."

But, she said, she is worried police are focusing on a loose-fitting style favored by some young black men.

"My concern is how (the policy) will be applied equitably," she said.

Flint Police Officers Association President Keith Speer said that in the past, officers have given out warnings for exposed skin and arrested those with their entire rear exposed. He said he doesn't anticipate any significant changes in how police will enforce the law.

My take: Ok, so this seems really stupid on the surface. One could argue, and persuasively I think, that the Flint Police Department has bigger fish to fry. That being said, my sensibilities aren't offended, nor do I think the Constitution is taking a hit. Freedom of expression in this country is, and always has been, limited by community standards of decency. And while these standards are often hard to gauge, I think calling this ordinance unconstitutional is a stretch.

It's not immoral: Sagging your pants probably falls short of being immoral, but it's a bit ridiculous. Calling it immoral does not serve the Police Chief's purposes, which I believe are actually positive. And yes, it does disproportionately affect Black males. (I'm certain the ban on Ephedra disproportionately affected White females--big deal.) I am quite sure that if you went into the mostly White city schools of Burton, you would see a whole lot of sagging going on.

The sooner the better: Our kids are never too young to gain a broader understanding of the real world. I'm about as anti-establishment as they come, but I also recognize that the noxious elements found in the hip-hop culture are crippling our youth regardless of color. I certainly don't like the government telling people what they can and cannot wear, but I also hate the stigma placed upon so many kids who only dress the part. Call me a square, but the real world comes calling much sooner for some and we need our kids to be prepared for it.

This is nothing new: When I was in high school, sagging pants were similarly not allowed. And Flint is not the only city trying to crackdown on sagging (did I just write "crackdown" on sagging?) Locales in Virginia, South Carolina and Tennessee have similar ordinances.