shimajiro said...

shimajiro at 02:19 PM JST - 18th June

While I think it would have been much preferable for gay marriage to have been legalized via the ballot box rather than legislated from the bench the result is still to welcomed.

Posted in Gay, lesbian couples rush to get married in California at 02:19 PM JST - 18th June
shimajiro at 03:41 PM JST - 17th June

...that ought be realized

"...that ought to be regulated" I meant to say.

Posted in Obama seizes on growing disapproval of Bush policies to differentiate himself from McCain at 03:41 PM JST - 17th June
shimajiro at 03:19 PM JST - 17th June

Instead, Obama is perceived as the one best able to handle the economy, and has repeatedly shifted the debate in that direction.

Obama has done a better job of tapping into voter anxiety about the economy and has proposed more and more comprehensive measures to deal with the effects of…

Posted in Obama seizes on growing disapproval of Bush policies to differentiate himself from McCain at 03:19 PM JST - 17th June
shimajiro at 03:01 PM JST - 17th June

Better late than never, I suppose.

Posted in Gore endorses Obama at 03:01 PM JST - 17th June
shimajiro at 03:00 PM JST - 17th June

[Obama] said he told Zebari that he was encouraged by the reductions of violence in Iraq, but that as president he will carefully move to end U.S. combat operations in Iraq.

While the improving situation in Iraq may well allow for a quicker drawdown of US troops from Iraq that…

Posted in Obama, amid criticism from McCain, says he will visit Iraq at 03:00 PM JST - 17th June
shimajiro at 02:42 PM JST - 17th June

The trends of the past few months have indeed been heartening. Here's hoping a virtuous and self-reinforcing cycle has set in.

In the meantime, Sunnis who once shunned politics are gearing up to contest provincial elections this fall.

The Sunni's partial boycott of the 2005 elections robbed them of political…

Posted in Iraqi violence down at 02:42 PM JST - 17th June
shimajiro at 09:54 PM JST - 12th June

yabits,

The Iraqi parliament is already in favor of setting a definite date for a US pullout.

That has yet to be established by vote. It's one thing to favor a withdral in the abstract, it's quite another to vote to demand a withdrawl by a certain date.

The facts…

Posted in McCain says setting Iraq withdrawal date 'not that important' at 09:54 PM JST - 12th June
shimajiro at 09:40 PM JST - 12th June

chardk1,

but claiming it is doing nothing but God's work on Earth, as some Americans (Dubya) do with no perceivable irony, is going to draw a lot of criticism and rightly so.

I think this is a bit of a strawman. It's one thing to believe or claim one's country…

Posted in Anti-Americanism at record levels worldwide, report shows at 09:40 PM JST - 12th June
shimajiro at 03:06 PM JST - 12th June

chardk1:

But as Americans we should care about why people think what they do about us even if we disagree with the "what."

Agreed. All other things being equal it is desirable to be popular. I wouldn't make it a primary aim of US foriegn policy, though.

Posted in Anti-Americanism at record levels worldwide, report shows at 03:06 PM JST - 12th June
shimajiro at 01:44 PM JST - 12th June

Licensed deri-heru services are legal, but limited to erotic massage culminating in oral or manual stimulation.

Wow, that would meet the legal definition of prostitution in the U.S. I didn't realize such was legal recreation in Japan. Do Japanese wives and courts consider it to be adultery and/or grounds for…

Posted in Kitakyushu cops’ indiscretions come under scrutiny at 01:44 PM JST - 12th June