How Valuable Are States?

An argument today for and against the continued utility of states, state government and US Senate representation by state. An interesting debate. I honestly didn't know that the equal apportionment of US Senators was the one aspect of the Constitution that was explicitly prohibited from amendment.

Personally, I'm not sure that states need to be abolished wholesale (although there is a process for merging states with other states, I believe - North and South Dakota strike me as strong candidates for merger), but certainly the Western states have borders that are completely arbitrary and could be redrawn (along, say, watershed boundaries). But this has been done in the past (such as to Nevada), and does not necessarily question the validity of state governments per se.

Why Are We in Afghanistan?, II

Nifty infographicand map on US and NATO troop levels in Afghanistan since 2001. FYI when the Taliban was overthrown at the end of 2001 there was something like 2,000 troops in the country.

So, what's the plan again?

Underestimate the Jesuits At Your Own Peril

Here is a stimulating profile of Guy Consolmagno, one of the Vatican's astronomers. Despite much of the controversy historically surrounding the Vatican with regards to science, the truth is that the Vatican Observatory has some very active scientists conducting research (the Vatican's Chief Astronomer has addressed the prospect of encountering intelligent extraterrestrial life.

NEEDLESS to say, Fr. Consolmagno is obviously a Jesuit:

“Poverty and chastity, I was used to — I had been a graduate student,” he says. “But obedience was a tough one.”

“Science cannot prove God, or disprove Him. He has to be assumed. If people have no other reason to believe in God than that they can’t imagine how the human eye could have evolved by itself, then their faith is very weak.”

America's New Police State: G20 Paranoia

Another interesting link:

A Youtube video of a small, relatively inconequential portion of the police presence in Pittsburgh. Its basically a police crackdown on a hot dog stand frequented by UPenn Pittsburgh students.

I'm actually a little shocked at how Hollywood-esque police crackdowns have become. Minus the bike-cops, this really looked like a scene out of Demolition Man or some sort of cyber punk dystopia. "I hereby declare this an unlawful assembly" indeed. Send in the hunter-killers...

And please bear in mind that these people being maced and threatened with arrest are not actually engaging even in any form of protest (although I remember something about that being constitutionally-protected as well).

Why Are We in Afghanistan?, I

If we can't do nation-building in Mexico, then why in Afghanistan?

I think this essay pretty much succinctly sums up whats wrong with
American imperium....