Muntader al-Zaidi is still in jail. You should be angry.

[HuffPo]: The Darkness before the Dawn (and how to lift it)

Virtues of a Proportional Response

In the debate, Dukakis flubbed badly a question on capital punishment (transcript below, video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF9gSyku-fc).

Bernard Shaw (moderator):
Governor, if Kitty Dukakis [his wife] were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?

Dukakis:
No, I don't, and I think you know that I've opposed the death penalty during all of my life

Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing, used a Dukakis flub as inspiration for his show (and not for the first time) when staffer Toby asks President Bartlet a similar question in debate prep:

TOBY
Mr. President, this next question is on capital punishment, which you oppose:
If your youngest daughter Zoey was raped and murdered, would you not want to see
the man responsible put to death?

BARTLET
First of all, it's important to understand the President doesn't make that
decision, though he appoints the Supreme Court Justices who do
so. What... any... um... All right, I'm not going to say that. I'll just go right to... No, I don't. I think you know that I'm opposed.... [sighs] Let's not do that. I haven't seen any evidence that it's a deterrent, and there are more effective... In my state...

TOBY
What's the matter with you? I just mentioned your daughter being murdered, and you're giving us an answer that's not only soporific, it's barely human! Yes, you'd want to see him put to death. You'd want it to be cruel and unusual, which is why it's probably a good idea that fathers of murder victims don't have legal rights in these situations.

Criticizing Israel's response to Hamas's rocket attacks in no way means denying the legitimacy of the feelings that are spurring it. To expect Israelis to live under constant attack with equanimity is as unreasonable as expecting the father of a murdered daughter not to wish her assailant dead. In the United States, we have a legal system to step in and restrain the vengeful father, despite his understandable and natural passion. Israelis desperately needs someone to step in and restrain them before their actions harm their nation's prospects for peace even further.

An expanded post on the situation will follow tomorrow.

(thanks to WestWingTranscripts.com)

Ratios without Rationalizations

1 : 100 :: Israelis killed : Palestinians killed

2 : 5 :: Palestinian civilians killed : Palestinian militants killed

1 : 5 :: Palestinian children (under the age of 16) killed : Palestinian militants killed


If Israel is determined to ignore or rationalize the above, perhaps it will be chastened by the below:

1 : 1 :: Population of the Palestinian Territories in 2040 : Population of Israel in 2040

(first set of data from the AP's reports of UN estimates, second from the Washington Times

Polly Want a Legal Status

The miniature horse pictured above is notable not only for being fairly adorable, but for serving as a service animal, just like a seeing-eye dog. An article in today's New York Times Magazine reports on the expanding definition of 'service animal.' The new uses of animals are clever, none more so than the assistance parrot named Sadie which talks Jim Eggers's down from his bipolar rages:

Eggers’s [bipolar disorder with psychotic tendencies] has landed him in court several times: a disturbing-the-peace charge for pouring scalding coffee onto a man under his apartment window who annoyed him; one-year probation for threatening to kill the archbishop of St. Louis. Sadie is one of the few things keeping Eggers from snapping.

Sadie rides around town on Eggers’s back in a bright purple backpack specially designed to hold her cage. When he gets upset, she talks him down, saying: “It’s O.K., Jim. Calm down, Jim. You’re all right, Jim. I’m here, Jim.” She somehow senses when he is getting agitated before he even knows it’s happening. “I still go off on people sometimes, but she makes sure it never escalates into a big problem,” he told me, grinning bashfully at Sadie. “Now when people make me mad I just give them the bird,” he said, pulling up his sleeve and flexing his biceps, which is covered with a large tattoo of Sadie.

Unfortunately for Eggers and Sadie, the line between 'service animal' (allowed to accompany its owner into public places) and 'therapy animal' is largely unclear. The Department of Justice has proposed limiting the definition of 'service animal' to “dog or other common domestic animal,” specifically excluding “wild animals (including nonhuman primates born in captivity), reptiles, rabbits, farm animals (including any breed of horse, miniature horse, pony, pig or goat), ferrets, amphibians and rodents.”

Rather than attempt to create a bright line definition that could put Eggers and other innovative patients at risk, the DoJ should sign off on a broader definition of service animal, contingent primarily on a doctor's affadavit and simply hold users accountable for the reasonable behavior of their animals in public. The law is not meant to be twisted to preempt every extreme, improbable case.

Start the New Year with a Smile

According to the New York Times, the Thai police have found a novel way to improve relations with civilians.

Thailand is nicknamed "The Land of Smiles," but, of late, the Thai police have found it hard to keep smiling. The solution they hit on lies below.

“They have to put on a mask because a smile doesn’t come naturally anymore,” said Ammar Siamwalla, an economist who keeps a close eye on the mores of his countrymen. “Normally people smile. You don’t have to put on a smiley mask.

“But these past few years that smile has worn thin because we are all angry at each other and willing to show it.”

So, what's your metaphorical Thai-smiling-mask to keep you pleasant for the new year?