White vs Black - Midwest Vs New Orleans

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing click to enlargeIs it just me or is the Midwest getting more Federal help, got Federal help sooner than the Katrina victims received? No problems with ice. I haven't seen any issues with getting aid into the much larger effected area. People from other states, Florida, North Carolina, California, are not being denied access to the victims of the Midwest flood. International aid is not being turned away this time. In 2004, FEMA had no problems with four hurricanes in a row - Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne pummeled Florida in August of that year. It has even been alleged that FEMA delivered Florida for Bush in 2004. But somehow, a year later FEMA totally fails when it comes to Hurricane Katrina. Not only did it fail, it was an epic failure and collapse of nearly every segment of Federal government. The Canadian Mounties got to New Orleans before Government relief got there. Bush can't say the government was caught unaware. Video proof shows Michael Brown warning Bush about the levees and the looming disaster to come. But the Midwest flood response? It looks as organized as the choreography of the The Lion King. You just got to wonder about the racial element to the still lagging response to New Orleans - almost three years later. SPECIAL REQUEST FOR TCD FANS: The San Francisco Chronicle is pondering the addition of new cartoons for their paper - a process that seems to be initiated by Darren Bell, creator of Candorville (one of my daily reads - highly recommended). You can read the Chronicle article here and please add your thoughts to the comments if you wish. If anything, put in a good word for Darren and Candorville. I am submitting Town Called Dobson to the paper for their consideration. They seem to have given great weight to receiving 200 messages considering Candorville. I am asking TCD fans to try to surpass that amount. (I get more than that many hate mails a day, surely fans can do better?) This is not a race between the two of us, it is a hope that more progressive strips can be represented in the printed press of America. So if you read the San Francisco Chronicle or live in the Bay Area (Google Analytics tell me there are a lot of you), please send your kind comments (or naked, straining outrage) to David Wiegand at his published addresses below. If you are a subscriber, cut out your mailing label and staple it to a TCD strip and include it in your letter. candorcomment@sfchronicle.com or David Wiegand Executive Datebook Editor The San Francisco Chronicle 901 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94103

Shari'a and The Muslim World: An Interview With Author Noah Feldman

The topic below was originally posted on my blog yesterday when the interview took place. Shari’a is a code of law based on the Koran. In the Muslim world, many want to replace corrupt autocratic regimes with the Shari’a and establish traditional Islamic states. Western countries regard the Shari’a as a threat. Islamic parties are winning elections on it. Militants have used the Shari’a to justify acts of terrorism. Meanwhile, secular minded people find their most severe provisions repugnant. In his latest book, The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State (Princeton University Press), Noah Feldman tells the story behind the populist movement in the Muslim world to establish the Shari’a. Feldman addresses questions about why the Shari’a is popular in spite of its harsh code and whether the Islamic state can succeed. He also explains how the classical Islamic constitution governed and was legitimized by law. Feldman argues that prior to the reforms of the modern era, the Shari’a operated under an effective system of checks and balances between scholars who interpreted the law and executive power. Knowing the history of the Shari’a itself is important for context and Feldman’s book covers the promising beginnings of the traditional Islamic constitution and its downfall in the Ottoman Empire. Throughout the book, Feldman contends that if the Shari’a is combined with modernized institutions, successful Islamic states based on law and justice can be established. Muhammad Qasim Zaman, author of The Ulama In Contemporary Islam, had the following praise for Feldman’s book: “Scholarly and sophisticated yet highly accessible, this book makes an extremely important contribution to contemporary discussions of both Muslim politics and Islamic law. Feldman’s work provides a historical depth that has often been lacking in studies of law and constitutionalism in modern Muslim societies.” Feldman is not without his critics however. In a recent article for The New Republic, Leon Wieseltier writes, “Feldman is shilling for a soft theocracy--for other people, naturally. This is, among other things, hypocritical. Don't Muslims, too, have the right to sin?” Noah Feldman is a professor at Harvard Law School and a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine. He is also an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of three previous books: Divided by God, What We Owe Iraq and After Jihad. Feldman agreed to a podcast interview with me over the telephone about his provocative book. Among the topics we discussed was Sharia’s history, women’s rights in Muslim society, geopolitics, how Barack Obama's candidacy was being received in the Muslim world and I also specifically asked him to respond to Leon Wieseltier’s critique. Our conversation was approximately twenty-eight minutes. Please refer to the media player below. This interview can also be accessed at no cost via the Itunes store by searching for the "Intrepid Liberal Journal."

“God Killed Him For Loving Fags!” (UPDATED)

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing click to enlargeUpdating from Monday's DKos post... A guitar playing man who was supportive of same sex marriage passed out at my feet a little after 5pm. The medics gave him CPR for over 20 minutes before they moved him. He looked bad. The crowd was very compassionate about the man's condition except, of course, the crazy fundamentalist "Christians" on hand to protest. I asked on protester why wouldn't he pray for the guy instead of shouting about anal sex? He replied "God killed him for loving fags!" I thought the man died and the badgering by the fundamentalists really shook me up. But I have good news today. Petrelis Files and Pam's House Blend learned a lot more about the idiot yelling and the gentleman who collapsed. The fundamentalist is named Kevin Farrer and he has a website - Cry To God. He is a roofer from Fremont (Sonrise Roofing), according to the Golden Gate Xpress. It seems Farrer leaves a trail of hate wherever he goes - San Jose, Santa Barbara, and points east. The guitar player, Petrelis calls him Joni, is alive after suffering cardiac arrest and is in guarded condition at Saint Mary's Hospital. We are still casting the net out there for this man's real name. If anyone knows, please drop us an email. SPECIAL REQUEST FOR TCD FANS: The San Francisco Chronicle is pondering the addition of new cartoons for their paper - a process that seems to be initiated by Darren Bell, creator of Candorville (one of my daily reads - highly recommended). You can read the Chronicle article here and please add your thoughts to the comments if you wish. If anything, put in a good word for Darren and Candorville. I am submitting Town Called Dobson to the paper for their consideration. They seem to have given great weight to receiving 200 messages considering Candorville. I am asking TCD fans to try to surpass that amount. (I get more than that many hate mails a day, surely fans can do better?) This is not a race between the two of us, it is a hope that more progressive strips can be represented in the printed press of America. So if you read the San Francisco Chronicle or live in the Bay Area (Google Analytics tell me there are a lot of you), please send your kind comments (or naked, straining outrage) to David Wiegand at his published addresses below. If you are a subscriber, cut out your mailing label and staple it to a TCD strip and include it in your letter. candorcomment@sfchronicle.com or David Wiegand Executive Datebook Editor The San Francisco Chronicle 901 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94103

Off-shore drilling - Bush’s real agenda

Crossposted from Left Toon Lane, Bilerico Project & My Left Wing click to enlargeFrom the Washington Post - a non-AP story: President Bush called on Congress today to lift a 26-year-old ban on oil drilling off the shores of the United States, arguing that the country needs more domestic energy production to alter the circumstances that are driving up oil prices. In a speech in the White House Rose Garden, Bush said that if Congress removes the ban it first imposed in 1982, he would lift an executive order that also prohibits drilling for oil and gas on the U.S. outer continental shelf. That executive order was issued in 1990 by Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush. Bush also repeated his call for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Alaska and urged Congress to allow access to oil shale in the Green River Basin that stretches across parts of Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. He said the basin contains the equivalent of about 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil, more than three times the proven oil reserves of Saudi Arabia. I just don't buy it. Bush's energy estimates are overly rosy. Look at ANWR. The most optimistic, GOP think-tank estimates show us, at present consumption rates, ANWR oil would only satisfy the needs of the US for barely 18 months. What they don't tell you is it would take ten years to develop the field before you can pump out the first drop. They also don't tell you that the field would need to be pumped slowly, taking about 40 to 50 years to pump the oil out. That is half a century of trampling the wild reserve. In short, ANWR doesn't solve anything. Bush went on to yap about the drilling offshore on the outer continental shelf - how that will save America. All of that oil and natural gas will make the United States energy independent he tells us. What Bush doesn't tell you is it will take decades to explore the shelf, build the new drilling rigs and extract the fossil fuels. He also doesn't even want to mention what will be required on-shore. Such massive off-shore operations requires significant on-shore support. New oil pipelines, new refineries, new storage depots, and a host of other dirty, oil related crap that does nothing to ween us off of fossil fuel. This is billions in infrastructure that could be used to actually get us off of oil - forever. SPECIAL REQUEST FOR TCD FANS: The San Francisco Chronicle is pondering the addition of new cartoons for their paper - a process that seems to be initiated by Darren Bell, creator of Candorville (one of my daily reads - highly recommended). You can read the Chronicle article here and please add your thoughts to the comments if you wish. If anything, put in a good word for Darren and Candorville. I am submitting Town Called Dobson to the paper for their consideration. They seem to have given great weight to receiving 200 messages considering Candorville. I am asking TCD fans to try to surpass that amount. (I get more than that many hate mails a day, surely fans can do better?) This is not a race between the two of us, it is a hope that more progressive strips can be represented in the printed press of America. So if you read the San Francisco Chronicle or live in the Bay Area (Google Analytics tell me there are a lot of you), please send your kind comments (or naked, straining outrage) to David Wiegand at his published addresses below. If you are a subscriber, cut out your mailing label and staple it to a TCD strip and include it in your letter. candorcomment@sfchronicle.com or David Wiegand Executive Datebook Editor The San Francisco Chronicle 901 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94103