Beautiful Horizons

Maradona Gets Punished

For his behavior that I discussed here and here, Diego Maradona has been punished and I believe it's largely appropriate:

Argentina manager Diego Maradona has been banned from football for two months and fined by FIFA as punishment for his rant at journalists following Argentina's qualification for the World Cup finals.

The ban, announced by a FIFA disciplinary committee after a hearing with Maradona, extends to any "football-related activity" and is effective immediately, meaning the Argentina manager is suspended from November 15 to January 15.

"The committee reached this decision following a three-hour meeting at the Home of FIFA in Zurich,'' a statement from FIFA read. "The head coach of Argentina was heard by the committee during 40 minutes and apologised to FIFA and the world football family.

"The committee took into consideration the apologies and the sincere remorse shown by Maradona in its decision, which was communicated to him at the end of the meeting. The sanction, which was taken on the basis of article 57 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, applies from 15 November 2009 to 15 January 2010.

"The committee stressed that any breach of this decision or any repetition of a similar incident would mean that stronger sanctions would have to be imposed in the future.''

Count on that happening. Self-control is not in Maradona's vocabulary.

Lies and the lying liars

In the wake of 9/11, BushCo began lying to the American people almost immediately.

Memo to Bob Bradley

Jonathan Bornstein is not the answer; Jonathan Bornstein is the question.  No is the answer.

Looking for the Big Picture

I think Boz and the New York Times are largely correct that the recent blackouts in Brazil and other Central and South American countries are related to infrastructure issues. While I tend to believe that diversity of supply will help Brazil, I don't believe that I addressed the overall issue with infrastructure sufficiently.

Both Boz and the article deal with issues of transmission of electricity and that is a particularly problematic issue with Brazil. While supply from different sources will aid infrastructure by furnishing some built-in redundancy when other sources falter (e.g. droughts that could impact hydroelectric supplies), infrastructure issues are ongoing problems in the region. Boz correctly points out the potential for future problems with rising income levels and increased demand only make the need for improving infrastructure more urgent.

John Cole says it all

Here:

 (N)o matter how bad all their ideas are, no matter how disastrous their governance has been, no matter how many horrible things they have done to the economy and this country, what really is killing the Republican party is that deep down, they are just complete assholes. You see it in the way they treat women, you see it in the way they treat minorities, you see it in the way they treat homosexuals, you see it in the way they treat anyone who is not a white Christian, and you see it in the way they treat anyone who disagrees with them slightly about anything. They just have no respect for anyone, and it shows. People don’t like to be treated like crap, and grown-ups don’t want to be associated with people who yell “You lie” or scream “socialism” or “Hitler” or accuse you of being a terrorist whenever they don’t get their way.

If you read the Corner or the Weekly Standard, or listen to any talk radio or any of the mouth breathers on Fox, or read any right-wing blogs, you will instantly know what I am talking about. You can’t help but notice that they are just loudmouthed jerks, stubborn bully boys, and insensitive and insecure cads. James Wolcott once wrote that Eric Cantor looked like the “pricky proprietor of the Jerk Store,” and that could be applied to the majority of the prominent Republicans out there. I guess that should be suspected from a movement in which the only thoughts are “Fuck you, I got mine.”

A Stupid, Stupid Consistency

Yet again Brazil pays a heavy price for the overreliance on hydroelectric power:

An important hydroelectric dam shared by Brazil and Paraguay failed Tuesday night, pushing a large swath of central and southern Brazil into darkness, said the country's minister of mines and energy, Edison Lobao.

At about 10:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. ET), the Itaipu dam shut down completely, Lobao said in a radio interview.

Itaipu is the second largest hydroelectric facility in the world and the power lost was equivalent to losing all power in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil's most populous state. Yet Lula still is betting the house on more dams, including some in environmentally sensitive areas.

A severe drought in 1999 caused blackouts in Brazil. The way to avoid this in the future is to have a variety of energy sources, but no one seems that interested in Brazil; just sticking with the conventional sources. Expect more of this.

Rupert's world

The New York Post is a sleaze pit. Who knew ?

In the wake of Ft. Hood

Marc Lynch has some important observations on the implications of how we respond to the Fort Hood tragedy, disturbing revelations about the gunman and the authorities failure to isolate him (via Kevin Drum):

(H)ow America responds to Ft. Hood really is important in the wider attempt to change the nature of its engagement with Muslim publics across the world.  Get the response right, as the administration thus far has done, and they show that things really have changed.  Get it wrong, as its critics demand, and the world could tumble back down into the 'clash of civilizations' trap which al-Qaeda so dearly wants and which the improved American approach of the last couple of years has increasingly denied it. 

The Fallen at Fort Hood

President Obama will address the memorial service at Fort Hood, Texas, this afternoon. Here are his full remarks, as prepared for delivery and released by the White House:

We come together filled with sorrow for the thirteen Americans that we have lost; with gratitude for the lives that they led; and with a determination to honor them through the work we carry on.

This is a time of war. And yet these Americans did not die on a foreign field of battle. They were killed here, on American soil, in the heart of this great American community. It is this fact that makes the tragedy even more painful and even more incomprehensible.

For those families who have lost a loved one, no words can fill the void that has been left. We knew these men and women as soldiers and caregivers. You knew them as mothers and fathers; sons and daughters; sisters and brothers.

But here is what you must also know: your loved ones endure through the life of our nation. Their memory will be honored in the places they lived and by the people they touched. Their life's work is our security, and the freedom that we too often take for granted. Every evening that the sun sets on a tranquil town; every dawn that a flag is unfurled; every moment that an American enjoys life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - that is their legacy.

Neither this country - nor the values that we were founded upon - could exist without men and women like these thirteen Americans. And that is why we must pay tribute to their stories.

We're Number One!

And it's nothing to be proud of, as Gary notes.

Bizarre Story of the Day

This is creepy:

A Brazilian bricklayer reportedly killed in a car crash shocked his mourning family by showing up alive at his funeral.

Relatives of Ademir Jorge Goncalves, 59, had identified him as the victim of a Sunday night car crash in Parana state in southern Brazil, police said.

You have to love a cop with a sense of humor:

The police spokesman confirmed there were doubts: "His mom looked at the body in the casket and thought something was strange. She looked and looked and couldn't believe it was her son," Sampaio said. "Before long, the walking dead appeared at the funeral. It was a relief."

I can only imagine!

"All Dissent is Opposition; All Opposition is Counterrevolutionary"

If one was creating a fair and just society, why would there be the need for suppressing peaceful dissent such as this?

On November 6, Cuba’s most prominent blogger, Yoani Sánchez, together with blogger Orlando Luís Pardo Lazo, were abducted by three men. Sánchez and Pardo were forced into an unmarked vehicle, beaten, and threatened by their captors before being released onto the street.

Some more contemporary accounts here and here.

Hat tips to Marc and Boz.

The Heart of the Matter

In the heart of the Iraq War debate, the one argument I could never abide was the humanitarian argument; not because Saddam Hussein wasn't an awful, brutal dictator, but because it was, frankly, it was a classic example of shutting the barn long after the cows, goats, chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, horses, etc., have long since fled.

Marc Danner explains it far better than I do in his response to George Packer's rather churlish review of his book, Stripping Bare the Body:

In Bosnia, the United States should have acted to stop genocide, which I witnessed and reported on and which was going on, and on, even while American warplanes patrolled overhead and United States intelligence agencies recorded the “number liquidated” in Serb concentration camps. In Iraq in 2003, there was an autocratic government but no genocide. Indeed, when Saddam Hussein’s army had engaged in mass killing — against the Kurds in 1989 and against the Shiites in 1991 — American officials, who had been supplying Saddam with critical intelligence in 1989 and who commanded a United States Army in Iraq in 1991, had stood aside and done and said nothing.

A dozen years later, many of the same officials who had looked on when tens of thousands of Iraqis were being killed had no compunction about pointing to those graves to drum up support for an invasion of Iraq. The Bush administration’s “humanitarian argument” for the Iraq war was shameful and dishonest from the start. Sadly, many of those who well understood its dishonesty and cynicism, and who could have served the country — and done their jobs — by acting to expose it, for their own reasons stood and cheered America on to war.

The humanitarian argument for the Iraq War was post-facto ass-covering. Nothing more.

WATB of the Day

Tom Tancredo at about 3:19.

Hat tip to DougJ.

A Strange Op-Ed

Mystery writer Harlan Coben makes the case for New Jersey governor-elect Chris Christie's skills - as a Wal-Mart greeter.

Stewart channels Beck - hilarious

Ft. Hood Tragedy

I really have nothing to say - just a sick feeling - about the terrible tragedy at Fort Hood. I'm assuming everyone has heard/read about it by now and is scanning the news for some more definitive information on what happened and how it could possibly be explained or understood. But, small comfort, I received the following suggestions from my local Organizing For America network on how one might, in sadness and great humility, connect:

- The local hospital has issued an urgent call for blood in the central Texas area. If you know someone or have contacts through your social network pages that are in the area, send them to http://www.sw.org/web/patientsAndVisitors for additional info (times and locations). I imagine the Red Cross is another alternative, but I haven’t heard anything from them

- Soldiers’ Angels, a great volunteer organization that supports our troops around the world, has already stepped out. They are collecting cards and NEW stuffed animals for the families and children of the fallen/wounded heroes.
Please send cards and stuffed animals/blankets/anything NEW that may brighten the life of a child to:
Soldiers’ Angels Warehouse, 4408 PanAm Expressway, San Antonio, TX 78218
They will also organize a HOLIDAY OUTREACH at a later date. For more details contact: ShelleMichaels@SoldiersAngels.org

$100 Million Mayor

I have never had any strong feelings one way or the other about New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg - except the obvious positive that he's NOT the execrable Rudolph Giuliani - but his spending $100 million out-of-pocket for re-election in a single city-wide race strikes me as a bizarre perversion of democratic politics. Perhaps worse, it seems like an act of desperation marinated in hubris.  And, given his edging out his opponent by just five points, his incumbent status and a campaign spending advantage of more than 10-1, to a non-New Yorker such as myself his status and credibility appears much diminished. Bloomberg managed to dwarf himself with his own fortune.

Hiram Monserrate Must Go

Full disclosure: Hiram Monserrate is my state senator. I live near him.

I'm fond of Jeralyn Merritt. She was a major inspiration to me when I started blogging and provided support and encouragement.

When her friend, Joseph Tacopina defended New York State Senator Hiram Monserrate, she vigorously defended the presumption of innocence of Monserrate and rightfully so, but she also didn't brook (in the comments to this post as well) legitimate criticism of what may be the most disturbing action committed by Monserrate after the slashing of his girlfriend. Instead of taking her to Elmhurst Hospital center near his home, he drove the love of his life to a hospital outside of the city that took nearly 30 minutes travel time.

Let's put this in pictures. Monserrate lives in Jackson Heights on 83rd street, although I don't know his exact cross streets. For the sake of argument make it Northern Boulevard as that is the northern boundary of Jackson Heights. Here is a likely map of the route that Monserrate took to get to the hospital he actually took his girlfriend:

Here is the route to Elmhurst Hospital:

 
To repeat: the love of your life is bleeding from a wound near her eye that is so deep as to go to her skull. You don't call 911. You don't take her to the hospital less than a mile away in the district where you were city councilman and happens to have the only trauma center in Queens rated as a Trauma Center of Excellence. Instead you drive out of the city more than ten miles to a hospital where no one knows you because you were once treated there for kidney stones.

This doesn't just defy credibility; it tap dances on its skull and pulverizes it. He was trying to hide his act. It's time for the senate to cut him loose.

Some Possible Winners and Losers in the Resolution of the Honduras Coup

Assuming the agreement reached to end the stalemate in Honduras is approved by congress, there will clearly be some winners and losers in this matter. The list below is by no means an attempt to be definitive and is most assuredly far from complete.

Among the winners:

• The OAS. Yes it lumbered and didn't move at a speed fast enough to satisfy some or meddled to the consternation of those opposed to Zelaya, but it unified its members and didn't flinch.
• Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Much in the way the OAS didn't please everyone, neither did President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton. Nevertheless, they didn't cave into demands from the paleocon right and the lunatic fringe in the media to accept the coup.
• Lula. Brazil's president's vigorous leadership on the issue was a model for the region: unwavering, but not bombastic; providing support behind the scenes (e.g., the Brazilian embassy for Zelaya's refuge), while maintaining diplomatic pressure was a sign of true diplomatic skill, a trait common in Brazil, arguably Latin America's most skilled diplomats.
• The people of Honduras, who get to hold their elections without the taint of the this event weighing on them.
• The people of the Americas. Coups won't be tolerated in the region, no matter how one seeks to rationalize them.

Among the losers:

• Roberto Micheletti. Notwithstanding claims that Zelaya would not be restored (a claim that persists, despite the pressure that remains and the clear text of the agreement,), Micheletti clearly felt the pressure and gave in.
• The paleocon right. Jim DeMint's knickers must be in a serious twist now. For a taste of the wackiness, read this one in the comments to the Mary Anastacia O'Grady opinion piece linked to above. 
• Honduras' business community. In addition to the loss of income, they now look like coup mongers.

It is not yet a done deal, but it's looking good. Stay tuned.