“I will make it legal” – Emperor Palpatine
That might not be the best quote, since I’m loath to compare the US Government with a Sith Lord from a children’s story, and there are far too many children’s stories to explain the situation in the Middle East. But the quote illustrates an important point: law stems from power. He who has the power makes the laws, and he who makes the laws has the power.
And that is the best way to understand the issue in Syria and how it’s developing. The basic issue is the Arab Spring, which is a pro-Western revolt in the Middle East, spreading into Syria, which falls under Russian Imperial influence.
This explains why the US has been very skittish about getting too involved in Syria – being too heavy handed could risk open confrontation with Russia. Contrast that with our $1.5 billion yearly aid to the Egyptian military.
But what Obama said, over and over again, is the US’s need to establish some kind of basic “red line” or international law by which it is compelled to act anywhere around the globe. And this is the heart of imperialism, and why it’s such a nuanced concept that it escapes most people. Too often we need something blatant behind it – oil, profit, dollars, greed – but the reality of it is as delicate as a word.
And that’s the thing. For the purposes of this article, we will assume Assad has used chemical weapons, this means Russia would also like to get on board and enforce that standard. That means Syria is becoming indefensible. And whereas Russia would feel violated if the US did an open military strike on one of its allied countries, allowing the US to maintain this international standard, or law, is more nuanced, and lets it maintain regional domain.
In this narrow sense, it’s actually a lot like Iraq. Other countries only opposed the US’s invasion of Iraq in speeches and rhetoric. When it came down to material support, they were all in there, divvying it up according to the anarchic law of imperial powers.
And the US, by upholding and struggling single-handedly for this limited international standard, no matter how basic and abridged, maintains its prestige as the world’s power.
It is with this lens that we can take Obama at his word when he says that to put that red line down, and then not to enforce it when someone crosses it, would be to gravely damage our national interests.
Author Archives: Mr. Biggs
Numbers, dammit! I need numbers!!!
It’s an old political science lesson: when the camera pans out, it’s journalism. When it pans in, it’s propaganda.
The former is what we saw in Egypt two years ago. The latter is what we’re seeing today.
It means the demonstrations calling the overthrow of Mubarrak numbered in the millions. Meanwhile, it looks like the demonstrations calling for the restoration of Morsi are numbering only in the thousands. It seems like a lot in a country like ours where nobody demonstrates over much of anything, but it confirms my opinion in my last post that the Morsi faction is a small, well organized minority which “sees it as an all or nothing battle” (to quote a CNN correspondent).
With this in mind, struggle and death is as inevitable as it is in any revolution. At least if you want to move forward to a democratic society.
And the media continue to forget any real numbers while they fumble around blindly with their senile moralistic lens. We need numbers, goddammit! How big are these pro-Morsi demonstrations, really? What people in Egypt are saying about it? Where are the 33 million who came out in support of Morsi’s ouster?
Killing 500 people to crush a small minority aimed at strangling a fledgling democracy is really a small price to pay, especially when they say it’s an all-or-nothing battle. Consider how many are dead in Syria over that battle.
Or heck, look at how many are dead in Iraq, and how much money have we spent there? This is a doubly vexing point, considering John McCain just went on the rampage calling this a coup and saying we need to take out all our money from Egypt. Okay Mr. Finish-The-Job-10+years-In-Iraq guy. Though maybe it’s not so vexing considering the party out of power in DC always plays the anti-imperialist bullshitter card.
Please, the moralistic bullshit needs to stop. These people are journalists, not philosophers. They are not qualified to pontificate on political matters. Give us some real numbers. Tell us what’s happening on the ground. Don’t pan to shots of one person here, a few there, and scream how horrible it is. You know what’s horrible? These guys taking up airtime.
It’s the opposite of a coup
I was reading The Economist’s lament (Has the Arab Spring Failed?) about the military’s ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood, and that this was a grave step backwards for Eqypt. Ironically, I was reading this on July 14, aka Bastille Day. Because it seems our venerated Western Democracies are so old that we’ve become a bit senile and have forgotten our own violent births.
Now I know there’s a lot of confusion about what exactly is going on, and I’m used to a population that just fumbles for gut reactions (military bad, voting good) because they’re so far away from actually being able to understand politics. But when established journalists start reporting with this lack of understanding, it’s cause for concern.
So let’s do a quick chronology of events, so we can see where we’re really at, shall we?
The ouster of Mubarrak was caused by a truly popular groundswell – a SECULAR groundswell. Of this there can be no denial. The secularists in Egypt sacrificed for that revolution and they made it. Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood was sitting on the sidelines, waiting for their moment to take advantage of it.
The details of their rise to power since then are a bit fuzzy, but it sounds like they used every shady and intimidating trick in the book to ascend to power, and once they did so, to solidify their absolute control of society. That meant pushing the secularists out.
That’s when the military stepped in. On the side of the secular revolutionists.
Now I understand this is a novel concept. When we hear the word “coup”, it conjures up connotations of Pinochet and Franco, who rose to power AGAINST a popular groundswell of leftists. But let’s continue.
The military took over, and 33 MILLION people came out in support of the ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Let’s repeat that. 33 MILLION IN SUPPORT OF MORSI’S OUSTER.
IT’S THE LARGEST DEMONSTRATION IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND.
Since then, I’ve seen report after report of the military shooting demonstrators. Who are these demonstrators? Not the secularists. They’re supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, sore at their loss of power. This is to be expected, and is a necessary part of Egypt’s transition to a modern democracy we can all be proud of.
Why are we wringing our hands about this? This is why I bring up our own senility.
Democracy isn’t absolute, and it doesn’t come about by a simple ballot. Society has all sorts of anti-democratic forces lurking about – monarchists, aristocrats, slaveholders, and yes, Islamists and clerics. These people are removed only by force, not by the vote.
Remember Cromwell? Of course you don’t, it was only a 40 year Reign of Terror that history books calmly gloss over in that staid progression of Kings. I can name the American Revolution, or better yet the French Revolution, but I imagine you get my point by now.
This is what’s happening in Egypt today. We would to well to tip our hats and nod in their direction, and rally for the secularists to come to power and push for Egyptian society to move in the democratic direction it needs to go. This is the only roadmap to democracy.
UPDATE: And another thing. If we were to adopt this lens, we would see just how much positive there is going on in Egypt right now. What’s really missing in all this is some numbers, and this is where journalists should be applying their resources. How numerous are the pro-Morsi supporters? How numerous are the secularists?
I’m only gleaning this information from random wide-shots of the demonstrations, and so my vision is a bit fuzzy. But what I’m seeing is the pro-Morsi demonstrators are pretty small compared to the secularists. They’re just far better organized, since they’ve been around for many decades already. This is why they need to be repressed. They’re old weeds that are choking off the new society Egypt wants to become.
Is PETA anti-Semitic?
So I’ve been hearing this more and more lately – Kosher animal slaughter causes much more suffering to the animal than conventional slaughter. As a Jew, I take this accusation seriously, since the entire law of Kosher slaughter is based on the animal not suffering at the moment of death. So I did some Google searches on the subject, and I have to say the results weren’t satisfactory.
On the one side you have PETA, who has a definite agenda to go vegan, and they bring this all up to support their argument. Their one source of actual evidence was this NY Times article from 2004 detailing abuses at a kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa.
One article about one place ten years ago does not constitute a pattern, less a policy that contradicts the theory. And only a cultist would run with it straight to the conclusion that vegetarianism is the only solution.
On the other side, you have the rabbis, who insist up and down that according to Jewish slaughtering rules, the animal must not suffer. This guy gives a good explanation. I have to acknowledge what he says about this accusation being another form of anti-Semitism. Frankly this whole “Kosher animals suffer more” has about the same amount of evidence as the old “Jewish bankers run the world” canard.
And I’ve known people who’ve learned the trade of Kosher slaughter, so I know the proper practice exists at least in some places. But, as another article puts it, factory style slaughterhouses may have a completely different practice. And that’s where I see there may be a point.
So it seems like the issue is transparency at kosher slaughterhouses. Are they living up to the spirit of the law and making sure that animals are not suffering? Or are they just giving a tip and a nod to the law and, in the name of efficiency, maintain practices that result in a lot more suffering than conventional slaughter? And if that is the case, are Jews aware of this and doing anything about it?
If people really wanted to address this question, this is how they would approach it. So far I’m not seeing that. All I’m seeing are the kind of abstract debates and finger-pointing that the internet excels at. Like I said, this is a serious accusation, and if it is true, and Jews remain unaware of this, then Judaism is in need of some serious reforms. But if it is false, then the accusers can be branded as anti-Semites.
Our health profit system
So I pulled a calf muscle in my last half marathon, nothing debilitating but I am limping a bit. And I’m wondering if I should go see a masseuse about my calf, to see if they can tell if it needs anything more than basic TLC. It’s because at this point I’m avoiding doctors at all costs.
You see, less than a year ago I broke my fibula – that’s the small shin bone. It was pretty bad, and the orthopedist convinced me it would heal best if they surgically implanted a rod to fuse the broken halves together. I agreed, and in retrospect, I’m glad I did.
But even with insurance that thing cost me over $5000 out of pocket. Even not including physical therapy, it cost me about $4000 out of pocket.
I got a bill from the doctor, a bill from the anesthesiologist, the surgery center charged my card before they even let me in the door and the company that provided the rod and screws billed me. That’s not including the copays I shelled out between visits or the miscellaneous drugs I was prescribed.
Each bill was almsot $1000. It’s ridiculous. I don’t have the money to pay these guys, I’m basically paying about $100 a month between them all to keep it from going into collections. The insurance company is absolutely no help in helping me figure out if any of them are even justified in charging me. All for a freaking outpatient surgery. I think the surgeon told me it took 15 minutes to do the acutal procedure.
The whole industry is like a pack of vultures on a carcass. It wasn’t always like this. Back in 2000 I had a burst appendix and spent a week in the hospital, the whole thing cost less than $30k and the insurance paid for eveyrthing.
And here’s the thing. I’m not poor, I don’t have some shitty job with no benefits, I make over the median and pay extra for decent coverage. But apparently, decent coverage now allows you the same benefits as no coverage did only 10-15 years ago.
Why is this not the foremost issue in Washington? How is it that people aren’t up in arms about this? Not only are they not up in arms, they’re actually defending the current system! The health care system isn’t broken: we HAVE no health care system. There is no such thing as health care in America anymore. It’s a health profit system. They find ways to make money off you if you’re sick or injured, and God help you if you actually expect them to make you better.
Chocolate fondue
Ingredients
Milk or dark chocolate
Strawberries or fruit of your choice
Large bowl
Small bowl
Good luck trying this with cheese. But we used to do this trick at work on Farmer’s Market days. Get a bar or two of your favorite type (there’s a Godiva store by my work so we got that) and chop it up into small cubes. Then get your dipping foods – I like strawberries because you can hold them by the leaves, plus they taste great dipped in chocolate.
Now the fun part. Get the small bowl and put it in the large bowl, then pour hot water in the large bowl to about an inch or so up the small bowl. The more water the better, really, just make sure it doesn’t spill into the small bowl or make it float. Throw it all in the microwave for another minute or so until that small bowl is nice and hot.
Now, add the chocolate into the small bowl and coax it into melting with a spoon or fork. You can throw it back into the microwave again to help it melt more, but make sure not to burn the chocolate – max of 30 seconds at a time.
Once the chocolate is melted, let the party commence! Everyone sits around the bowl dipping strawberries in it. You can always throw more chocolate cubes in there, once the chocolate is in there it’s easier to melt more.
Franks & beans
Ingredients:
1 can vegetarian baked beans
2 Hot dogs – Hebrew National preferred
This is for the heartier appetites out there. The only shortcoming here is the hot dogs can go bad after a few weeks in the fridge. You can throw them in the freezer but then they’re much harder to chop unless you defrost them first. But who has time for that.
First step it to chop up the hot dogs into slices – the thinner you cut them, the more flavor and oil they’ll release. Throw them in a heated 1-quart pot (or saucepan for those who know the terminology) and let them brown. No need for extra oil, they’ll release enough to grease themselves just fine. Hebrew National is the best at this.
Once they’re done (I like them nice and toasted), add in the can of beans. Stir it up, reduce heat, and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. You probably should stir on occasion to keep things even.
This follows trend I like to call deveganizing – or making vegan dishes so much more delicious with a good dose of meat.
Omelette
Ingredients:
Eggs
Milk (optional)
Various toppings
Okay, this will probably be the least bachelor friendly recipe I’ll post, since you’ll likely want to stock up on all sorts of perishables if you want a nice omelette. But the fact is, once you get the hang of it, an omelette is very easy to prepare. And the ingredients are ridiculously cheap – a dozen eggs goes for $2, as opposed to $10 omelettes at your typical bistro. Not to mention, it’s a great way to get rid of produce that’s about to go bad.
And all bachelors should be well-versed with a frying pan or skillet of sorts: I use my 7″ non-stick pan more than all my other cookware combined. And it even makes a nice substitute for a microwave.
That being said, here’s your basic tips to making a good omelette, that I’ve learned over the years working in food service and observing various chefs.
The eggs: beat them in a cup, and add some milk if you have any. This will give them a fluffier texture. Two jumbo eggs work perfectly for me.
The skillet: heat it up with a half to one tablespoon of your favorite grease. I like coconut oil myself. Once it’s nice and hot you’re ready to throw in your toppings.
Vegetable toppings: I’ve become a believer in diced onions as the basis for any good omelette. Don’t worry, you don’t need much, and supermarkets carry a wide array of pre-chopped onions. Trader Joe’s has a great onion/garlic/shallots package that works perfectly. Throw these in your greased heated skillet first, as you want them slightly caramelized to release their flavor into the omelette.
I also like mushrooms, spinach, and cherry tomatoes. You can get spinach and mushrooms ready packed, the cherry tomatoes you just need to dice in half. Throw these in the skillet.
This is a good time to throw in any meat toppings you have. I recommend having that stuff pre-cooked. Thaw and chop frozen items or cold cuts.
I usually put spinach in mine, so once it’s wilted I’m ready to throw in my beaten eggs. Pour them evenly over everything.
Now here comes part that takes some finesse. It’s all in the wrist. You want to keep flipping the omelette even as the eggs are mostly raw, with just a thin layer cooked on the bottom. With a good non-stick surface everything should slide nicely in the pan. You can swish the pan around before flipping to make sure you don’t have any sticking points. Use chopsticks or something similar to keep egg from sticking to the side.
The trick is to keep all your toppings encased nicely in the egg, so the egg makes a little oven for everything to finish cooking in and release their flavor. With this flipping technique you’ll have it going nicely.
I don’t usually add cheese, but if you do, a good time to add it is soon after you pour the egg. You want to always have some egg between the cheese and the pan.
If you’re flipping well, you’ll soon get a nice circular omelette, total cooking time is just a couple minutes. Slide it out into a plate, and for a special dash fold it over itself in the middle.
And worst comes to worst, you’ll still have a nice scramble.
Shrimp Pad Thai
Ingredients:
Frozen Cooked Shrimp
Dry Ramen Noodles
Yeah you heard me. Well, it’s more like shrimp ramen, except the catch is there’s some good dry ramen-style noodles out there. Head to your local Thai Town and stock up on as many of those as you can get. My favorite flavors are Pad Thai and Tom Yum, but you should go all out exploring flavors that work for you. Then head to the supermarket and stock up on some frozen cooked shrimp. They’re cheap, they’re frozen so you can keep them forever.
That’s it, you have your two ingredients. Prepare the the noodles according to the directions, except when you add the boiling water, also add the frozen shrimp. Then throw it in the microwave for a minute or two so the water stays hot as the shrimp thaw and heat up. Also keep in mind, the Pad Thai style noodles want you to drain them before you add the flavor packets.
That’s it! You have a meal fit for a king. Or maybe a date. With your very understanding girlfriend.
So you want to unlock your iPhone?
Let’s all face it. AT&T sucks. They have the coverage of a budget carrier and charge you what Verizon does. Now that the 4G network is up, your old iPhone is getting left in the dust. And the idea that your iPhone is “locked” to AT&T makes you feel like a prisoner to a corrupt and exploitative corporation. So how do you get out?
In a word, don’t.
Now for the explanation. I’ve certainly read my share of rants and articles saying that locking cell phones is an evil practice and we should take our devices where we want. But there’s a reason they lock them. The new smartphones have all sorts of protocols which are designed to work only with the carrier that issues it. And once you switch your phone to another carrier, all sorts of little functions will need to be manually configured, or even be unavailable. It follows the classic IT rule of if you don’t control it, you can’t support it.
I’m telling you this out of experience. I tried switching my iPhone 4S from AT&T to T-Mobile, and now I’m switching back. It was a good run, but it turns out I can’t get visual voicemail (or any kind of voicemail alert) on my iPhone with T-Mobile. It would have been nice to know this before I made the switch, but nobody at AT&T or T-Mobile warned me of this. And that’s why I’m writing this post.
Overall though, it was a good try. I’m not regretting the switch, but I plan on sticking with AT&T until either my contract runs out or I just buy a new phone. And when I do, then I’ll go to another carrier.
Here’s the details of the switch:
To switch your phone to another carrier, you have to go to the other carrier first and get them to port your phone number over. You’ll need your old account number and some security detail. Once this is done, your phone will no longer function until you go back to your old carrier, get them to unlock it, which will allow you to install the new SIM. You should unlock your phone with a rep on the line to walk you though it, since it involves some rebooting steps.
Unlocking isn’t difficult, and AT&T does it pretty easily if you just call them and ask. Technically, they will not unlock your phone until you’ve paid your final bill including your contract termination penalty. But because I switched early into a bill cycle, it meant that I technically would be without a phone for nearly a month, since the bill cycle has to end before they can send you a final bill. But the guy just went ahead and unlocked it anyway, he didn’t even need to call a supervisor or anything.
The issues came after I switched. And I repeat, nobody warned me about these issues. They’re so concerned about the money they stand to win or lose that they forget about what matters to you.
First off, the T-Mobile network isn’t bad. Like I said, it’s about the same coverage as AT&T, with an added bonus. AT&T liked to pretend that I was getting 4G speeds, even though my iPhone 4s isn’t capable of it. So while it showed off the nifty 4G coverage bug, my phone was grinding at 3G or even 2G speeds, which maked it look like it just wasn’t working properly. T-Mobile is at least honest about what speed you’re actually connecting at.
But like I said, the visual voicemail is totally incompatible. This is the case for any carrier, my phone will also be incompatible with Verizon. Once T-Mobile is able to sell its version of the iPhone, they will make it available on those devices. Technically, I can download some third-party app that basically downloads and deletes any voicemails I receive and put them in a visual format for me. But the apps I saw were not only sketchy looking, I couldn’t get them to work. I mean I could try harder to make it work, but if I’m having this many errors at the outset I imagine it won’t be quite reliable if I do get it to work. And like I said, not only is visual voicemail not available, I get no warnings at all that I have a voicemail. If I turn my phone off or go in a dark zone (both which happen quite often) I’ll have to manually call my voicemail to find out if somebody sent me something.
I also was unable to send MMS messages (pictures via text), at least initially. Turns out that you need to manually configure MMS settings, and once I checked some blogs and played around with it I got it to work.
There’s other features that also become available once you unlock that are nice, like tethering. But overall, not worth the more crucial functions you lose. It’s better to find a company that offers the services you want, get the phone through them, and stick with them without a contract until you’re through with them.