Instahoglets 17th Feb 07

A roundup, in accepted Insta-Atrios style, of what some of the Newshog blogroll writers are saying.

Anything They Say : 17% of US manafacturing jobs have disappeared since 2001 while American-based multinationals (who could care less about trade deficits) try to block Chinese efforts to make stronger labor laws.

Blue Gal revists the Dubai Ports scandal and notes that, after all the shouting, those Dubai folks are getting impatient to close the deal giving the ports back to an American company...a year later! They would rather be shopping.

Charlie Stross righteously rants on the stupidity of recent UK legislation stifling free speech and points us to a new British SF anthology. "Glorifying Terrorism" is "dedicated to demonstrating the asinine nature of this piece of reactionary and censorious rubbish by breaking the law. Featuring illegal stories by Kathryn Allen, Chaz Brenchley, Marie Brennan, Hal Duncan, Suzette Haden Elgin, Kira Franz, Van Aaron Hughes, Davin Ireland, Gwyneth Jones, Vylar Kaftan, Lucy Kemnitzer, H. H. Løyche, Ken MacLeod, Una McCormack, Adam Roberts, Elizabeth Sourbut, Katherine Sparrow, Kari Sperring, [Charles Stross], Rachel Swirsky, Lavie Tidhar, James Trimarco, Jo Walton, Ian Watson, and Ian Whates, this is the most political SF anthology published in the UK for a very long time." This I have to read.

Fatcat has the honor roll of the Congressional Progressive Caucus - All 71 members have signed a resolution to permanantly end funding for Bush's War Of Terror in Iraq and it is now the largest of all the Democratic Caucuses. These are the folks with the political gumption to actually dosomething and I'm glad to see a couple of my favorites on there, as well as a single Senator...Bernie Sanders, of course!

The Gun Toting Liberal begs you to give some serious consideration to a minority candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination - Bill Richardson. GTL feels Richardson isn't getting enough attention because the MSM still "sees a hispanic guy like Governor Richardson in the background and ASSUMES he is better suited for picking strawberries out in the field than he is to govern."

In The Pink Texas on the inability of Texas House Appropriations Chairman Warren Chisum to evolve. Funny stuff and a good read! Now the serious bit...you know, Texas has a population of over 23 million and the State Appropriations Committee presides over a budget of more than $100 billion. That's more people than Australia and more money than the entire GDP of oil-rish Kuwait. Never let the Right tell you that their religious maniacs are a fringe group with no power.

Macswain is getting flack from wingnut Patterico, who loves to accuse those who disagree with him of using sock-puppets to comment on his website. Personally, I think Macswain has the strong case. See here, here and here.

Monkeyfister, himself a veteran, thanks Dubya for defunding the VA while busy making more disabled veterans in pursuit of his "legacy". Go get 'em, MF!

More Bulemia! PSotD steps up with his thoughts on blogroll purges and the need to elevate great posts from the littler guys into prominent view.

Canadian blogger The Galloping Beaver is furious (an inadequate word for what GB is feeling) at conservative Prime Minister Harper, who has blithely stated that Afghanistan is a suicide mission for some of the troops he has ordered into battle there.

Michael Stickings suggests we all educate ourselves (quickly) about the current situation in Chad, which is looking very like being the next Darfur.

Whirled View is written by three foreign affairs experts and if you aren't reading it regularly then you should be. The latest by Patricia Kushlis (an ex US Foreign Service officer) is a thought-provoking must-read.

kids who were 12 when the US invaded Iraq are now 15 going on 16 and by the time this administration is out of the White House they will be 18. 16 year olds will be 22 – and so on. Too often disenchanted, disaffected, sometimes undereducated, un- or under-employed youth are those the most attracted to the siren’s call of militant radicalism regardless of their religious creed. They are, after all, looking for meaning and direction in their lives but see none. If the population of a country as a whole is anti-American, I shutter to think how its disaffected young people must view us and how many of them may join the ranks of militant groups whose weapons are aimed against us.

How about seeing outreach to dissafected youths in troubled areas of the world becoming part of the foreign policy platform of those Democratic hopefuls?