Expanding on the ‘Cartoongate’ coverage:

Not content with simple flags, Muslims in the Lebanese capital of Beirut have set the Danish embassy on fire. There are no reports of casualties as of yet, but the building (pictured right) looks partially destroyed. This comes a day after the same thing happened in Syria, where many suspect that the government was complicit in the act by urging and allowing demonstrators to destroy symbols of Western presence (e.g., embassies).

In Lebanon, the army was brought in to establish order, but in neighboring Syria protesters were given free reign. Various governments in the Muslim world are quite displeased: the government of Pakistan passed a resolution denouncing the cartoons, and summoned the Danish ambassador to demand action against the newspaper. Meanwhile, King Abdullah II of Jordan has said that the cartoons were a “crime that that can not be justified under freedom of expression,” and has ordered two Jordanian editors who republished the images to be arrested.

To me, this seems less a furor over the cartoons themselves, and more an opportunity — one might even call it an excuse — to vent against the West. It could have been anything, but these cartoons were just the most convenient device available. The cartoons served as validation to angry Muslim masses that the West looks down on the Muslim world and seeks to suppress it, a touchy thing when four contiguous Muslim states (Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan) are perceived as being ‘meddled with’ by the West. It’s quite ironic, however, that the behavior of these mobs serves as validation to the West that Islam and religious violence go hand in hand.

Indeed, this sort of outburst makes Muslims look far more foolish than the cartoons possibly could, especially as it’s doubtful that all the protesters have even seen the images. As one (now fired) Jordanian newspaper editor said:

“Who offends Islam more?” asked Jihad Momeni. “A foreigner who endeavors to draw the prophet … or a Muslim with an explosive belt who commits suicide in a wedding party in Amman or elsewhere?”

Especially for a religion that claims to be peaceful and tolerant, these outbursts, in some places with shocking, threatening rhetoric, undermines those claims. Thankfully in my area (Washington DC) Muslims appear to be encouraging a more peaceful response:

Cautioning his congregation not to overreact, Magid urged them to follow the model set by the prophet, who is said to have always forgiven those who insulted him, including the woman who deposited her trash on him as he passed her home.

I think the broader issue will be how this affects future relations with the Mid East. Certainly we (the West in general, not the U.S.) have lost some ‘hearts and minds’ over this issue, and that translates fairly directly into a reduced ability to carry out our foreign policy in the region. But will popular violence translate into a larger conflict?

One might take as obvious that it is not the images per se that are inciting these mobs, but politically motivated imams and possibly even governments looking to foment ‘grass roots’ anger to give popular legitimacy to their anti-western policies. Thus far, our answer has been to denounce the cartoons and to call them irresponsible. OK as a tactical diplomatic move I can respect that — but we might have larger, longer term concerns. Will this set of stupid cartoons be the unifying focal point for a pan-Islamic uprising against the West? Or just another flash in the pan?

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

The Washington Post is reporting (along with every other major news outlet) that the IAEA has officially referred Iran to the UN Security Council in a 27-3 vote. The only three to vote not to refer them are quickly becoming a short list of ‘usual suspects’: Syria, Cuba and Venezuela. Even Russia and China, both of which have fairly close ties to Iran (economic as well as military), joined the United States and most of Europe in the decision. Unfortunately the immediate effects are mostly diplomatic, with any further action to be postponed:

Under an agreement reached Monday between the five permanent members of the Security Council and Germany, the council will not take any action on Iran for at least a month, giving Tehran a grace period to change its tactics, stop its enrichment activities and cooperate more fully with IAEA inspectors.

[…]

U.S. and European diplomats have said that they envision a “graduated” diplomatic approach to slowly build pressure on Iran, and that sanctions currently are not being considered. Nonetheless, Iran reportedly has been withdrawing money from European banks and stockpiling critical materials that could be difficult to get if an embargo or sanctions were imposed.

Certainly it seems like there will be a certain amount of time before anything substantial is done, and that even if action is taken, it will be in the form of sanctions rather than military action. (However, given statements by the president of Iran regarding Israel and the United States, many observers would be unsurprised if unilateral action took place, making any UNSC moot.)

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

In what is clearly the most advanced weather forecasting tool available to modern man, Punxsutawney Phil has predicted six more weeks of winter. One would hope so, as this January (warmest on record for the mid-Atlantic states) has totally ruined my ski season. :)

The history of Groundhog Day is apparently based in German/Christian superstition: if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on February 2 (Candlemas) winter will last another six weeks, but otherwise, spring will arrive early.

(How this affects the angle of the earth toward the sun is beyond me, but whatever. :) )

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

Another electoral oddity for the weekend! (The first being Cindy Sheehan’s mulling over a Senate run.) From CNN:

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is famous for his ambitious promises, but he is unlikely to be called to task if he breaks his latest pledge: not to have sex before the April 9 general election.

Hmmm. An odd promise, although in a country of 58 million Catholics, perhaps not? Yet he is hardly the image of piety:

The twice-married Berlusconi, 69, prides himself on his physical fitness, and after a facelift and a hair transplant he looks younger now than he did when he swept to power in 2001.

…

In June he sparked a diplomatic incident with Finland when he said he had used “playboy tactics” to persuade its woman president to give up a bid to site the European Union’s food agency in Helsinki rather than the Italian city of Parma.

At 69, I think he’s deluding himself, but then again some women go for that swarthy Italian look. But how is he to use his Playboy Powers if he’s going to be saving himself for the next two months? Will Italian politics grind to a halt? :)

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

I’m tempted to start this with, “No, I’m not making this up,” but maybe I’m just biased against insane people.

The Washington Post is reporting that everyone’s favorite nutcase Cindy Sheehan may attempt to run for Senate against incumbent Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). From the article:

Cindy Sheehan, the peace activist who set up camp near President Bush’s Texas ranch last summer, said Saturday she is considering running against Sen. Dianne Feinstein to protest what she called the California lawmaker’s support for the war in Iraq.

“She voted for the war. She continues to vote for the funding. She won’t call for an immediate withdrawal of the troops,” Sheehan told The Associated Press in an interview while attending the World Social Forum in Venezuela along with thousands of other anti-war and anti-globalization activists.

Personally, I think that even Feinstein’s liberal San Francisco will be somewhat uncomfortable with Sheehan, although maybe not. (Having elected two actors as governors, I don’t put much past California.) This should be interesting to watch — for entertainment value, if anything.

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

UPDATE BY BRENDAN: For those who weren’t around during the marathon Cindy Sheehan comment-war earlier this month, click here to read my Jan. 8 post and here to read the many, many, many comments that followed.

CNN Breaking News: The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld Oregon’s physician-assisted suicide law. More as it comes.

From the CNN article:

Justices, on a 6-3 vote, said the 1997 Oregon law used to end the lives of more than 200 seriously ill people trumped federal authority to regulate doctors.

(BTW, you heard it here before Drudge said anything on it.)

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

Given the Mac fetish some seem to have on this site, I thought this was all too appropriate: it seems that Levi Strauss is making a pair of jeans “compatible with the iPod music player, featuring a joystick in the watch pocket to operate the device.”

This is something I’d expect from the Onion. I can’t find anything about it on the Levi’s site, but CNN says they’ll be called the “RedWire DLX Jeans”. This doesn’t mark the first time that a clothing manufacturer has designed iPod-specific clothing: according to the article, “Last fall Los Angeles-based manufacturer Kenpo launched men’s jackets selling at Macy’s for between $275 and $350, featuring iPod controls on the sleeve.”

Egads.

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck Greece earlier today; the epicenter was 120 miles south of Athens, and 23 miles beneath the sea floor. It was felt as far away as Cairo and Amman, although the worst of it was felt in Greece. Amazingly, there are currently no deaths reported, despite the collapse of numerous buildings. It is believed that its depth and offshore location is what saved the area from further damage:

Seismologists said if the quake had been centered closer to shore, the damage could have been catastrophic.

[…]

“It was a very powerful quake which shook all of Greece. There have been dozens of aftershocks, four with a magnitude of 5,” said Athens Geodynamic Institute head Giorgos Stavrakakis. “The quake occurred deep undersea and that’s what saved us.”

Also, even though this was an undersea event, there were thankfully no tsunamis reported either. :)

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

New York Times journalist David Rosenbaum, who had worked for the Gray Lady for over 30 years, was beaten and robbed Friday night in Northwest Washington, DC. He died tonight from his injuries. He was 63.

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

The perfect people at Google — who are brilliant, rich, creative, and apparently have loads of free time — decided to band together and get a bulk order of that childhood toy, silly putty. Hilarity ensued.

So: What would you do with 250 pounds of pliable fun?

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

I sort of sat on this for a week, seeing if anyone else would mention it. Now it’s post-Christmas, post-Fall ‘05-semester, and I’m bored, so here it is. From the Washington Post, it seems that Senate Republicans have put a ‘hold’ on the intelligence authorization bill:

Senate Republicans late Wednesday blocked the authorization bill that guides the country’s intelligence programs. It was the first time in 27 years that the bill had failed to pass before the end of the calendar year.

Why? Apparently there are three amendments that they find ‘objectionable’, despite the fact that Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), the chairman of the Senate intelligence panel, had agreed to the amendments. The three amendments are by Sens. Kerry and Kennedy: Kerry’s amendment would require the DNI (Director of National Intelligence, curr. Negroponte) to give information on secret CIA detention facilities to the Congressional intelligence panels; Kennedy’s amendments would require that the White House overturn presidential daily briefs from the Clinton and Bush II administrations regarding Iraq.

Now, the first amendment (Kerry’s) seems fine to me; after all, Congress has the job of overseeing the intelligence actions of the executive branch, and so its activities are fair game for examination. Kennedy’s seem to be on shakier ground, since the PDBs are ostensibly for the president and the president only. However, since they too relate to intelligence on Iraq, which has been called into question and indeed publicly acknowledged by Bush to be wrong, it would again be within the Congressional responsibility of overseeing intelligence when it comes to seeing why the executive branch thought it had actionable intelligence against a foreign nation. Furthermore, as Sen. Pat Roberts accepted the amendments, and presumably there had been some party discussion over the bill, it seems odd now that Republicans would move to block it. One might be tempted to think this is just a slap against the Senators from the Codfish State. Partisanship, anyone?

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

In what is being called a nightmare scenario for the United States, socialist leader Evo Morales has won the latest presidential election in Bolivia. His history certainly is of some concern; not only is he economically at odds with America, but something tells me we can’t count on his help on the War on Drugs either:

An Indian labor activist who advocates the distribution of Bolivia’s natural gas revenue to the public, Morales rose from poverty and obscurity to become the leader of Bolivia’s coca farmers.

In the past four years, he has led rounds of protests that have shut down the capital, La Paz, and forced two presidents from office.

Hmm — a cocaine producer with political legitimacy; Just great.

Morales, 46, is a friend and ally of Venezuela’s outspoken leftist President Hugo Chavez and Cuban President Fidel Castro.

He came to prominence blasting U.S.-backed “neoliberal” economic policies that Bolivian leaders adopted in the 1980s — policies he said do little to help the country’s impoverished Aymara and Quechua Indian majority — and defending impoverished coca growers against U.S.-funded eradication efforts.

The prospect of Morales now becoming president horrifies conservatives in Bolivia and in Washington, who say his radical form of socialism would be disastrous.

Just gets better and better, doesn’t it? Now we have three problem children in South America instead of two. Think Pat Robertson will be calling for a black ops deal on this guy too?

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

In response to rumors about alleged violence by men of Arabic descent, a mob several-thousand strong has been on the rampage in Sydney, Australia. What started as a race riot is turning into minor chaos: shops are being destroyed, and innocent people are being attacked on the street. Yet some “reassuring” words from the Aussie PM:

Prime Minister John Howard called the violence “sickening” but denied it was underpinned by a vein of racism running through Australian society.

“I do not accept that there is underlying racism in this country,” he said.

OK, John. Go on believing that. In a place where “[i]n the last census in 2001, nearly a quarter of Australia’s 20 million people said they were born overseas,” you might have a bigger problem on your hands.

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

No, not Brendan’s beloved USC Trojans; rather, North College Hill high school beat Wellston last night in the Border Battle Basketball Classic, in Southeast Ohio (near Cincinnati). The score: 138-34. The score was 74-23 at halftime; do you think Wellston just gave up after that? Oof.

More at SI.com.

Posted by Brian (Briandot)

For our bio-oriented readers: CNN reports that a new species has been discovered on the island of Borneo. It is described as looking like a mix between a cat and a fox, and has been caught on camera twice. It would be the first carnivorous mammal to be discovered on the island for over a century.

However, it may be endangered before ever being seen by a human: a plan for the world’s largest palm oil plantation would result in the clearing of a huge swath of rainforest. The project, backed by the China Development Bank, “is expected to cover an area of 1.8 million hectares, equivalent to about half the size of The Netherlands.”

Wow. Wiping out a rainforest to make a plantation that can be seen from space is Not Good, IMO. How much palm oil does the world really need?

Posted by Brian (Briandot)