Child-abusing Irish Nuns

It appears that Catholic priests and male members of religious orders weren't the only elements of the church involved in massive, systemic child abuse in Ireland. An order of Catholic nuns, the apparently misnamed Sisters of Mercy, agreed to pay 128 million euros to "compensate child abuse survivors."

The Congregation, exposed along with 17 other orders for imposing physically and psychologically abusive regimes in state-run institutions, said the offer was an attempt to be faithful to values of reparation, reconciliation, healing and responsibility.

Well, better late than never I guess. But with the extent of the abuse uncovered in Ireland, you have to wonder if the abusive treatment of children wasn't somehow the result of church policy. After all, it wasn't just one group or one school, but eighteen separate orders including nuns. It's pretty hard to believe that all those different organizations were running abusive schools without the knowledge and at least tacit approval of the Catholic church in Ireland.

HOT5 Daily 12/3/2009

1. "Five Unanswered Questions about U.S. Strategy in Afghanistan"Don't expect any good answers any time soon.

Representative Sample: 4. If the U.S. efforts in Afghanistan will not be finished quickly or easily as the president surmised last night, how then can the U.S. agree to a timetable for withdrawal with a straight face?

2. "A Deal-breaker" Why is God hiding?

Representative Sample: A lot of people think they know things about “God” which they have no good reason to think they know, and even which seem to be contradicted by everything we see around us. It’s odd that the discrepancies don’t interfere with the knowledge.

3. "Does The Navy Have A Place In McChrystal’s War?" A question most would probably not think to ask.

Representative Sample: The Navy’s primary contribution so far has been combat air support. But, airstrikes have fallen out of favor in Afghanistan as of late due to mounting civilian casualties. McChrystal’s new strategy should worry the Navy leadership, since Secretary of Defense Gates has demonstrated a strong preference for funding programs with applications in current conflicts

4. "An Illustration Of Obama’s Adorable Commitment To Reigning In The Deficit" I doubt even Obama thinks anyone believes he's actually worried about the deficit.

Representative Sample: It's a graphic.

5. "U.S. Defense Exports Still Dominate Market" We're number 1!

Representative Sample: France and Russia are increasingly aggressive in courting customers for their military products, but it is the U.S. that is raking in the big dollars — and increasingly so.

To submit a blog post for HOT5 Daily, please e-mail me at unrright@NOSPAMgmail.com. Put HOT5 in the subject.

Wasting Money in Afghanistan

No, I'm not talking about the new surge, but about U.S. aid money. While I was driving home this afternoon, I happened to catch an NPR interview with retired General Arnold Fields, the U.S. chief inspector for Afghanistan reconstruction. (I don't have a link for the interview, but I just heard it about a half hour ago.) Fields said that although he isn't certain, best estimates are that only 25-30% of U.S. aid money actually goes toward projects for which it is earmarked.  That's right, up to three quarters of U.S. aid for reconstruction isn't actually going where it is supposed to. So where does it go?

Fields said that maybe 10-15% of the money is used for security. Ok, that's a legitimate expense. But what about the remaining 50+%? The general couldn't answer the question. He has no idea exactly what happens to all that money. Keep in mind that this is the inspector general of the oversight organization for our reconstruction efforts. He can't answer a question about what happened to more than half of our aid money. When people talk about rampant corruption in Afghanistan, this is the massive scope they are talking about. It's so great that even the people supposedly monitoring it can't keep track. Unfortunately it involves our money.

5 Quick Thoughts on Obama's Afghanistan Decision

1. I hope the surge works. I'm skeptical, but maybe it will help stabilize the situation.

2. This is a typical half-measure done for political reasons. Put in more troops but less than requested, while simultaneously talking about when we might start withdrawing.

3. It's about time Obama actually made a decision. Cheney was exactly correct when he accused the president of "dithering." Nothing in the plan required the amount of time he took to make a decision. Afghan strategy should have been under review from the moment he became president, and probably even before. 

4. Obama clearly has little idea what he's doing, and inspires minimal confidence when it comes to this war. This decision is basically his best guess. Let's hope it's a good one.

5. Finally, despite my criticism of Obama, in his defense I will say that the Afghanistan situation is a real mess with no obvious good alternatives. No one should have expected him to come up with a magic bullet.

HOT5 Daily 12/2/2009

1. "Hello, I Must Be Going: Obama’s Afghan decision that wasn't" An interesting take.

Representative Sample: it's hard to dismiss any presidential decision that will put over 100,000 American troops at risk as being unnewsworthy. But it is undeniable that most of the coverage misses the bigger point: Afghanistan is a costly distraction for the president, the military, and reporters on the lookout for the big stories of our times.

2. "Importing Workers, Exporting Democratic Values"The benefits aren't just economic.

Representative Sample: Exposing so many Mexicans directly to the U.S.'s democratic system of government has increased support for, and participation in, democracy back home.

3. "Federal Judge Says NYPD Plagued by “Widespread Falsification by Arresting Officers”" Police fabricating crimes. That's real reassuring.

Representative Sample: the officers who arrested them were later indicted—when surveillance video showed the arresting officers fabricated the entire drug deal.

4. "Deepak Chopra: redefining “wrong”"A good smackdown of Chopra's latest attack on skepticism.

Representative Sample: For years he has gone on TV, in print, and in his books, peddling all manners of nonsense. Here’s a quick reality check: if his claims of "quantum healing" are correct, why is he getting older?

5. "Dear God, please confirm what I already believe" Links an interesting article.

Representative Sample:The experiments in which we manipulate people's own beliefs are the most compelling evidence we have to show that people's own beliefs influence what they think God believes more substantially than it influences what they think other people believe

To submit a blog post for HOT5 Daily, please e-mail me at unrright@NOSPAMgmail.com. Put HOT5 in the subject.

Laughing at Little Green Footballs

Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs has a post up called, "Why I Parted Ways With The Right." He lists 10 things that supposedly caused him to "part ways." Many others have already commented on his post. But I thought I'd give my take. Lest any LGF defenders think this is a typical knee-jerk right-wing response, let's quickly run down some of my positions. I probably agree with Johnson on many issues. For anyone new here, aside from being an atheist, I'm pro-choice, pro-gay marriage & strongly pro-gay rights in general, pro-immigration and in favor of some sort of amnesty for illegals, and pro-legalization of drugs & prostitution. With that out of the way, let's consider Johnson's points, and why I laugh at them.

1. Support for fascists, both in America (see: Pat Buchanan, Robert Stacy McCain, etc.) and in Europe (see: Vlaams Belang, BNP, SIOE, Pat Buchanan, etc.) This is nonsense. Pat Buchanan isn't popular with most on the right, McCain is just a blogger, most on the right have no idea who Vlaams Belang is, and don't support the BNP. Pat Buchanan has been a conservative for decades. His influence is probably lower now than it's ever been, yet somehow he's now a reason to leave the right. And there is little or no support for actual fascists on the right. Johnson probably knows all that, so reason #1 is just blatant intellectual dishonesty.

2. Support for bigotry, hatred, and white supremacism (see: Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Robert Stacy McCain, Lew Rockwell, etc.) None of these people actually support "white supremacism," and bigotry and hatred is pretty vague. Smearing people as white supremacists could be described as bigotry and hatred. Lew Rockwell is not exactly popular with the vast majority of the right, so his inclusion is idiotic. And again, Buchanan & Coulter are long-time conservatives, hardly reasons to leave the right now. Point #2 is based on nothing but empty slurs, and an apparent personal vendetta against another blogger.

3. Support for throwing women back into the Dark Ages, and general religious fanaticism (see: Operation Rescue, anti-abortion groups, James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Tony Perkins, the entire religious right, etc.) Ridiculous hyperbole. The religious right and anti-abortion groups have long been part of the right. Point #3 can easily be dismissed as hysterical exaggeration.

4. Support for anti-science bad craziness (see: creationism, climate change denialism, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, James Inhofe, etc.) Support for creationism among part of the right is again nothing new. And climate change denialism is no more anti-science than extremist global warming fanaticism -- which is actually far more dangerous. Skepticism is far preferable to fanaticism. Point #4 is pretty weak, and only applies to part of the right anyway.

5. Support for homophobic bigotry (see: Sarah Palin, Dobson, the entire religious right, etc.) Sarah Palin is hardly some sort of poster-child for "homophobic bigotry," based on her record as governor. I'm no Palin fan, but that characterization is just another smear. That seems to be a Johnson specialty. And again, the religious right has long been part of the right. Pretending that its continued existence is a reason for breaking with the right is just silly and unconvincing. Point #5, gratuitous Palin smear and pointless sputtering about the religious right. 

6. Support for anti-government lunacy (see: tea parties, militias, Fox News, Glenn Beck, etc.) Oh please. Why not just write, point 6, because I'm now a clueless leftist. Look, I'll even spout their propaganda. Fox News, Fox News!!! And although this point doesn't even deserve a response, I'll just note that most anti-government lunacy is still far preferable to most big government lunacy.

7. Support for conspiracy theories and hate speech (see: Alex Jones, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Birthers, creationists, climate deniers, etc Alex Jones isn't a right-wing figure, Glenn Beck is doing his own thing, and conspiracy theories are prevalent on both left and right. It's also pretty amusing that Johnson, who smears opponents as white supremacists, bigots, etc, is somehow worried about "hate speech." This point is sort of a combination of hypocrisy and irrelevance.

8. A right-wing blogosphere that is almost universally dominated by raging hate speech (see: Hot Air, Free Republic, Ace of Spades, etc.) This is obvious nonsense to anyone who actually reads the right-wing blogosphere. I regularly read Hot Air and I've never seen a single instance of anything that could be reasonably described as hate speech, except from some commenters. And if you are going to count commenters, there's hate speech all over the internet on all sides. Point #8 is either a flat-out lie, or Johnson using a definition of "hate speech" to mean basically anything he disagrees with.

9. Anti-Islamic bigotry that goes far beyond simply criticizing radical Islam, into support for fascism, violence, and genocide (see: Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, etc.) I think there are some that do go too far in their attacks on Muslims at large, as opposed to the radical element. Johnson either doesn't know what fascism is, is being deliberately dishonest, or is using the left-wing definition, just a smear for someone on the right who holds opposing views. And there's obviously no support for genocide, except maybe for a few extremists. As for "violence," that's so vague it's meaningless. Only the first part of this point has any validity at all, and it applies to only a minority of the right.

10. Hatred for President Obama that goes far beyond simply criticizing his policies, into racism, hate speech, and bizarre conspiracy theories (see: witch doctor pictures, tea parties, Birthers, Michelle Malkin, Fox News, World Net Daily, Newsmax, and every other right wing source) Another massive exaggeration and attempt to smear the entire right with the views of a extremist fringe.I'm sure Johnson is well-aware that most of the criticism of Obama is based on his policies, not racism, hatred or conspiracies. It's possible that Johnson really believes left-wing propaganda, but it's more likely this is just another example of his intellectual dishonesty.

Overall, Johnson's reasons for breaking with the right are nothing short of laughable. The majority of the right does not subscribe to most of the positions he attacks, and he relies on slurs, propaganda, ludicrous exaggeration, and vague terms like "hate speech." Having read some of his material before, I find it difficult to believe that he actually swallows the left-wing propaganda he's spouting. Therefore it appears that his post is nothing more than an intellectually dishonest attempt to cover up the real reasons he has left the right. I'm not sure what those are, but they appear to have something to do with personal vendettas against other bloggers.

HOT5 Daily 12/1/2009

1. "Leftists Reduced to Childish Whining Amid Obama-Democratic Epic Failures" When isn't there childish whining from the left?

Representative Sample: whiney trolling got me to thinking about how, nearly a year into the Obama administration, the radical left is still obssessed with the Bush administration, and the GOP remains the constant scapegoat for whatever happens to be the Democratic epic fail of the day.

2. "Israel Edges Closer to Iran Strike" I still think the odds are against it. But it wouldn't be that big of a surprise.

Representative Sample: close watchers of the looming showdown, such as Steven Simon of the Council on Foreign Relations, see plenty of signs that Israel is edging ever closer to what is likely to be a multi-pronged strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

3. "A God of Obsessions" You have to wonder why the awesome creator of the universe would be obsessed with every detail of appearance. 

Representative Sample: These verses should be very disturbing to modern-day Jews and Christians. They attribute to God a primitive, superstitious and ignorant view - one in which a person's worth is tied to their outward appearance, and people with defects are considered impure and unholy.

4. "Somalis Using Obama Photos As Targets" Maybe some more pandering to Islam, or another apology would help.

Representative Sample: Isn’t it about time someone in the Obama administration pulled the president aside and told him the truth about the world?

5. "Guinea: The Next Civil War in Africa?" If so, we should stay out of it.

Representative Sample: Things are getting weirder — and much worse — in Guinea, home to Dadis Camara, Africa’s newest megalomaniac nutjob.

To submit a blog post for HOT5 Daily, please e-mail me at unrright@NOSPAMgmail.com. Put HOT5 in the subject.