Things.....

I think I've decided to start updating this blog once again. Recently switched to FireFox so my browser doesn't take the rest of Bush's presidency to update.

Bad news yesterday, the UN approved sanctions against Syria. This is exactly the mold which led to war against Iraq. I can only imagine the new flimsy justifications they make. "At least fewer people will be killed in Syria than were killed in Iraq!"

Good news today, the UN approved Israel request for an international Holocaust Commemoration day, January 27th. Muslim and Arab countries approved it as well, but with some reservations. Egypt wants other genocides included, Malaysia says other genocides were no less severe (which depends on what you're measuring -- body count, the impact of technology, existential angst and suffering...). China wants to include the Sino-Japanese war of 1931/1937-1945, and Venezuala wants to include the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There's some pretty extensive literature on those and I don't want to get into that debate, however I do think it would lessen the impact of the commemoration day if we expanded it. I think fewer people are going to care about a vague Genocide Day than a specific Holocaust Day, simply because popular culture can relate better because of movies like Schindler's List. Similarly, if we were discussing a day for the remembrance of the Rwandan genocide, I would think that because of movies like Hotel Rwanda, Sometimes in April, and Shake Hands With The Devil, the public would be more receptive to a specific genocide commemoration than an all-encompassing one.