edafe.org » politics http://edafe.org edafe.org is the personal site of Edafe Knabe. Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:54:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Is aviation security mostly for show? http://edafe.org/2009/12/is-aviation-security-mostly-for-show/ http://edafe.org/2009/12/is-aviation-security-mostly-for-show/#comments Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:29:09 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=5742 “Despite fearful rhetoric to the contrary, terrorism is not a transcendent threat. A terrorist attack cannot possibly destroy a country’s way of life; it’s only our reaction to that attack that can do that kind of damage.” In the wake of last week’s failed bombing of an airplane over Detroit, Bruce Schneier asks us to leverage the inherent strengths of our democracies.
edition.cnn.com

]]> http://edafe.org/2009/12/is-aviation-security-mostly-for-show/feed/ 0 How constant beatings have caught up with campaigner Peter Tatchell http://edafe.org/2009/12/how-constant-beatings-have-caught-up-with-campaigner-peter-tatchell/ http://edafe.org/2009/12/how-constant-beatings-have-caught-up-with-campaigner-peter-tatchell/#comments Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:18:57 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=5712 “Only Peter Tatchell could be so enraged by something that is meant to calm him down. But as he grapples with the complicated security locks on his front door to let me out, it strikes me that perhaps the rest of us are lucky that he cares enough to carry on fighting, whatever the cause.” Elizabeth Day talks to Peter Tatchell, a man deserving of some respect.
www.guardian.co.uk

]]> http://edafe.org/2009/12/how-constant-beatings-have-caught-up-with-campaigner-peter-tatchell/feed/ 0 After Iraq, it’s not just North Korea that wants a bomb http://edafe.org/2009/05/after-iraq-its-not-just-north-korea-that-wants-a-bomb/ http://edafe.org/2009/05/after-iraq-its-not-just-north-korea-that-wants-a-bomb/#comments Sun, 31 May 2009 14:36:32 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=5543 “The idea that there is something irrational in North Korea’s attempt to acquire nuclear weapons is clearly absurd. This is, after all, a state that has been targeted for regime change by the US ever since the end of the cold war, included as one of the select group of three in George Bush’s axis of evil in 2002, and whose Clinton administration guarantee of ‘no hostile intent’ was explicitly withdrawn by his successor.” Seumas Milne identifies the single greatest driver of nuclear proliferation.
www.guardian.co.uk

]]> http://edafe.org/2009/05/after-iraq-its-not-just-north-korea-that-wants-a-bomb/feed/ 0 How to stop the drug wars http://edafe.org/2009/04/how-to-stop-the-drug-wars/ http://edafe.org/2009/04/how-to-stop-the-drug-wars/#comments Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:19:04 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=5213 “The war on drugs has been a disaster, creating failed states in the developing world even as addiction has flourished in the rich world. By any sensible measure, this 100-year struggle has been illiberal, murderous and pointless. That is why The Economist continues to believe that the least bad policy is to legalise drugs.”
www.economist.com

]]> http://edafe.org/2009/04/how-to-stop-the-drug-wars/feed/ 0 Why they might miss Dubya when he’s gone http://edafe.org/2009/01/why-they-might-miss-dubya-when-hes-gone/ http://edafe.org/2009/01/why-they-might-miss-dubya-when-hes-gone/#comments Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:14:51 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=4158 “Like it or not, I fear it will not only be the cartoonists and impressionists who will miss the easy target in the White House when he has gone”, writes Mick Hume on the day George W Bush leaves office.
spiked-online.com

]]> http://edafe.org/2009/01/why-they-might-miss-dubya-when-hes-gone/feed/ 0 The 44th President http://edafe.org/2009/01/the-44th-president/ http://edafe.org/2009/01/the-44th-president/#comments Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:05:14 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=4153 I was just following the swearing-in of Barack Obama as the 44th President and listening to his Inaugural Address. It appears to me that, at long last, the United States of America have got a class act to lead them.

]]> http://edafe.org/2009/01/the-44th-president/feed/ 0 A new dawn for us all? http://edafe.org/2008/11/a-new-dawn-for-us-all/ http://edafe.org/2008/11/a-new-dawn-for-us-all/#comments Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:52:46 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=3749 “To all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world—our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.”
President-Elect Barack Obama

]]> http://edafe.org/2008/11/a-new-dawn-for-us-all/feed/ 0 The roots of the crisis http://edafe.org/2008/10/the-roots-of-the-crisis/ http://edafe.org/2008/10/the-roots-of-the-crisis/#comments Fri, 03 Oct 2008 23:06:15 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=2873 “It is the intersection of several underlying trends that have brought us to this point, not a breakdown in any specific part of the financial sector.” Michael Flynn looks at the underlying reasons for the current Wall Street crisis.
www.reason.com

]]> http://edafe.org/2008/10/the-roots-of-the-crisis/feed/ 0 The Legacy http://edafe.org/2008/10/the-legacy/ http://edafe.org/2008/10/the-legacy/#comments Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:20:36 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=2870 “It would have been nice to let Bush’s two terms marinate a while before invoking Herbert Hoover and James Buchanan from the cellar of worst presidents. But then—over the last two weeks—he completed the trilogy of national disasters that will be with us for a generation or more.” Timothy Egan assesses the Bush Presidency.
egan.blogs.nytimes.com

]]> http://edafe.org/2008/10/the-legacy/feed/ 0 We had the very best of intentions http://edafe.org/2007/05/we-had-the-very-best-of-intentions/ http://edafe.org/2007/05/we-had-the-very-best-of-intentions/#comments Thu, 31 May 2007 18:57:28 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=410 “We did not go into Iraq to impose representative government on the Iraqis. We went there to manage a threat to our own safety.” Richard Perle explains why, in his view, the United States of America had to invade Iraq and topple Sadam Hussein.
commentisfree.guardian.co.uk

]]> http://edafe.org/2007/05/we-had-the-very-best-of-intentions/feed/ 0 Diary of a collapsing superpower http://edafe.org/2006/11/diary-of-a-collapsing-superpower/ http://edafe.org/2006/11/diary-of-a-collapsing-superpower/#comments Tue, 28 Nov 2006 18:59:58 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=523 “Gorbachev has been a persona non grata in his own country ever since. In the West he remains a hero, a respected historical figure, a man who peacefully cut a superpower down to its true size.” Newly published minutes from meetings of the Politburo reveal what really happened behind closed doors.
www.spiegel.de

]]> http://edafe.org/2006/11/diary-of-a-collapsing-superpower/feed/ 0 Privatsphäre ist wie Sauerstoff http://edafe.org/2006/09/privatsphre-ist-wie-sauerstoff/ http://edafe.org/2006/09/privatsphre-ist-wie-sauerstoff/#comments Fri, 22 Sep 2006 19:37:02 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=588 In German

“Der politische Stand ist eine Symbiose mit der Medienindustrie eingegangen, die aus finanziellen Gründen den Terrorismus in einem Maße ausschlachtet, das objektiv nicht zu rechtfertigen ist.” Privacy is like oxygen, argues Pär Ström. You’ll miss it when it’s gone…
www.bundestag.de

]]> http://edafe.org/2006/09/privatsphre-ist-wie-sauerstoff/feed/ 0 What the terrorists want http://edafe.org/2006/08/what-the-terrorists-want/ http://edafe.org/2006/08/what-the-terrorists-want/#comments Sat, 26 Aug 2006 19:02:25 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=526 “Defense against terrorism is to refuse to be terrorized. Our job is to recognize that terrorism is just one of the risks we face. And our job is to fight politicians who use fear as an excuse to take away our liberties and promote security theater that wastes money and doesn’t make us any safer.” Bruce Schneier is not about to give in. Are you?
www.schneier.com

]]> http://edafe.org/2006/08/what-the-terrorists-want/feed/ 0 Israel takes a stupid pill http://edafe.org/2006/07/israel-takes-a-stupid-pill/ http://edafe.org/2006/07/israel-takes-a-stupid-pill/#comments Wed, 26 Jul 2006 12:33:52 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=576 “Olmert has somehow persuaded the Israeli military to ignore strategy, think tactically, and in the process become really stupid.” Larry C Johnson asks whether anyone has really thought this through…
www.alternet.org

]]> http://edafe.org/2006/07/israel-takes-a-stupid-pill/feed/ 0 Fireworks in Washington, despair around the World http://edafe.org/2005/08/fireworks-in-washington-despair-around-the-world/ http://edafe.org/2005/08/fireworks-in-washington-despair-around-the-world/#comments Mon, 22 Aug 2005 11:04:08 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=569 “The president and his speechwriters have yet to confront the tension between their rhetoric about freedom, which is universally popular, and their practice of projecting US firepower, which is resented in equal measure.” Former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook on the day George Bush began his second term in office.
www.guardian.co.uk

Robin Cook is Dead

Robin Cook, one of few political figures to command my lasting respect, has suddenly died on August 6, 2005. If you are only ever going to read one political statement made to the House of Commons, read Robin Cooks’s resignation speech from 18 March, 2003.

]]> http://edafe.org/2005/08/fireworks-in-washington-despair-around-the-world/feed/ 0 Low taxes do what? http://edafe.org/2005/03/low-taxes-do-what/ http://edafe.org/2005/03/low-taxes-do-what/#comments Wed, 23 Mar 2005 19:40:20 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=604 Was Ross Perot right in suggesting that NAFTA would result in a “giant sucking sound”, with US jobs fast disappearing over the border to Mexico? Or did the number of jobs increase after NAFTA went into effect? Thomas Sowell is in search of the facts.
www.hoover.org

]]> http://edafe.org/2005/03/low-taxes-do-what/feed/ 0 Mission accomplished: Langan in Iraq http://edafe.org/2005/02/mission-accomplished-langan-in-iraq/ http://edafe.org/2005/02/mission-accomplished-langan-in-iraq/#comments Thu, 10 Feb 2005 10:34:46 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=580 The journalist Sean Langan spent the months from November 2003 to February 2004 in Iraq filming a documentary to be broadcast on BBC television. In this interview he talks about the making of the programme.
www.bbc.co.uk

]]> http://edafe.org/2005/02/mission-accomplished-langan-in-iraq/feed/ 0 Bush wins Florida http://edafe.org/2004/10/bush-wins-florida/ http://edafe.org/2004/10/bush-wins-florida/#comments Sat, 30 Oct 2004 15:51:15 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=1305 “With Jeb Bush as governor, and voting machine maker Diebold contributing to the Republican party, this might be what voting is like across Florida on Nov 2.”

]]> http://edafe.org/2004/10/bush-wins-florida/feed/ 0 A global power shift in the making http://edafe.org/2004/09/a-global-power-shift-in-the-making/ http://edafe.org/2004/09/a-global-power-shift-in-the-making/#comments Thu, 30 Sep 2004 19:36:17 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=586 “The transfer of power from West to East is gathering pace and soon will dramatically change the context for dealing with international challenges—as well as the challenges themselves.” James Hoge highlights some of the main issues facing today’s foreign policy makers in the US and around the world.
www.foreignaffairs.org

]]> http://edafe.org/2004/09/a-global-power-shift-in-the-making/feed/ 0 The Power and the Glory http://edafe.org/2004/09/the-power-and-the-glory/ http://edafe.org/2004/09/the-power-and-the-glory/#comments Mon, 27 Sep 2004 19:35:10 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=582 “Divine ordination is a very dangerous idea, especially when combined with military power. With God’s approval, you need no human standard of morality.” Howard Zinn expands on the myths of American exeptionalism.
www.bostonreview.net

]]> http://edafe.org/2004/09/the-power-and-the-glory/feed/ 0 Cartoon network? http://edafe.org/2004/09/cartoon-network/ http://edafe.org/2004/09/cartoon-network/#comments Thu, 23 Sep 2004 23:05:18 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=1316 It’s hard to open any newspaper these days and think that what you are reading really happened that way. Steve Bell’s cartoons, however, consistently seem to reflect a greater-than-average degree of objectivity.

]]> http://edafe.org/2004/09/cartoon-network/feed/ 0 Fotoshow: Nein zum Krieg http://edafe.org/2004/09/fotoshow-nein-zum-krieg/ http://edafe.org/2004/09/fotoshow-nein-zum-krieg/#comments Mon, 20 Sep 2004 19:35:48 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=584 In German

In February 2003 millions around the world were united in protest against going to war in Iraq. Take a look at this gallery of pictures taken during that period.
www.geo.de

People protesting against going to war with Iraq in Hamburg, February 2002.

]]> http://edafe.org/2004/09/fotoshow-nein-zum-krieg/feed/ 0 The real reasons Bush went to war http://edafe.org/2004/08/the-real-reasons-bush-went-to-war/ http://edafe.org/2004/08/the-real-reasons-bush-went-to-war/#comments Fri, 20 Aug 2004 18:33:26 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=574 “Oil and the dollar were the real reasons for the attack on Iraq, with weapons of mass destruction as the public reason now exposed as woefully inadequate.” A disturbingly coherent explanation put forward by John Chapman.
www.guardian.co.uk

]]> http://edafe.org/2004/08/the-real-reasons-bush-went-to-war/feed/ 0 A cloud over civilisation http://edafe.org/2004/08/a-cloud-over-civilisation/ http://edafe.org/2004/08/a-cloud-over-civilisation/#comments Sun, 01 Aug 2004 16:39:38 +0000 edafe http://edafe.org/?p=600 “Wars are a major threat to civilised existence, and a corporate commitment to weapons procurement nurtures this threat.” Economist John Kenneth Galbraith argues that companies control the state.
www.guardian.co.uk

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