Betzee said...

Betzee at 10:45 PM JST - 29th April

Some of the comments here reminded me of the flap over the democratic election of a conservative Muslim to the presidency in Turkey last year. At the age of 30 he was introduced to his (only) wife when she was just 14. As a concerned secularist pointed out, “If you…

Posted in 31 of 53 teen girls at polygamist ranch are pregnant or had baby at 10:45 PM JST - 29th April
Betzee at 08:44 AM JST - 29th April

adaydream, Remember it was precisely one of those teenage girls who found some means to notify the authorities of this group's living arrangements. We cannot presume children who have been raised wholly outside the mainstream are in a position to give consent because they have been kept ignorant of other…

Posted in 31 of 53 teen girls at polygamist ranch are pregnant or had baby at 08:44 AM JST - 29th April
Betzee at 04:49 AM JST - 29th April

progressives... told us that the surge was about establishing the government and that was the only way it could be measured.

In fact it was GWB who said this when he announced plans for a troop surge in January 2007. Progressives are simply measuring results against stated objectives, a common…

Posted in 38 killed in Baghdad clashes at 04:49 AM JST - 29th April
Betzee at 10:28 AM JST - 28th April

The thing is, Jeremiah Wright volunteered to serve in Vietnam in defense of a country he has also criticized. While I personally find his criticisms lacking in intellectual substance, it sure beats the hell out of some of his flag waving critics who had "other priorities" which enabled them to…

Posted in Obama's ex-pastor slams 'devious,' 'unfair' attacks at 10:28 AM JST - 28th April
Betzee at 10:05 AM JST - 28th April

Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called for an end to Iraqi bloodshed on Friday and said his threat of an “open war” applies only to U.S.-led foreign troops—stepping back from a full-blown confrontation with the government over a crackdown against his followers.

Recently I attended a bring the troops home…

Posted in Al-Sadr says threat of all-out war applies only to U.S.-led forces at 10:05 AM JST - 28th April
Betzee at 12:30 PM JST - 24th April

Many of these Chinese have immigrated out of China, why are they getting angry because someone says something about their EX government?

I did once ask a recent arrival from China, "You can leave so why do you object that Taiwan wants to break away?" It did cause him…

Posted in Chinese lawyers file suit over CNN 'goons' comment at 12:30 PM JST - 24th April
Betzee at 10:15 AM JST - 24th April

And on whose behalf are these lawyers suing?

It is interesting they are going the lawsuit approach. Perhaps they can't yank CNN off the air in China (I've watched more of it in Chinese hotels than in the USA).

This situation was handled differently in 1994, as was reported in…

Posted in Chinese lawyers file suit over CNN 'goons' comment at 10:15 AM JST - 24th April
Betzee at 09:53 AM JST - 24th April

The expectation that hosting the Olympic Games would push the PRC toward greater political liberalization and respect for human rights has clearly been dashed. Liberalization often gives rise to instability as grievances long suppressed find public voice. This conflicted with Beijing's short-term concern that the Olympics go off with a…

Posted in Chinese lawyers file suit over CNN 'goons' comment at 09:53 AM JST - 24th April
Betzee at 09:20 AM JST - 24th April

Let's look at what he said: "We continue to import their junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food and export, you know, jobs to places where you can pay workers a dollar a month to turn out the stuff that we're buying from Wal-Mart."

This…

Posted in Chinese lawyers file suit over CNN 'goons' comment at 09:20 AM JST - 24th April
Betzee at 10:20 PM JST - 22nd April

Nationalism extends from strong family-orientated societies - where a unit in society is the family and rarely the individual.

The Chinese in fact did a lot to break those family ties and make the individual's primary identification with the state, or CCP really. Children publicly denounced their parents during the…

Posted in China urges 'calm' as anti-Western protests continue at 10:20 PM JST - 22nd April