Israel's Three State Solution IV: One State?

Andrew Sullivan considers a One-State solution based on a poll that says that Palestinians would be interested in it.

The thing about terrorism, though, is that it does tricky things to the idea of democracy -- a majority of people can want something, but a minority of armed thugs can easily destabilize it. If Israel annexed Palestine and gave citizenship to the Palestinians in the West Bank, maybe a majority would agree (I am highly, highly doubtful) but the minority who would oppose it is fairly large, and I have a feeling it would be a fairly acrimonious situation.

Lebanon might be another example of a nation in the region that tried pluralism, but a vocal (and violent) minority destabilized it. With a little help from Israel and Syria.

If there was a three-state solution, wherein Israel and Fatah-administered West Bank were able to form peace, the next step would be, perhaps, a loose federal system that coordinates the two. A slow, long-term process towards a one-State solution, since unlike Zionists I believe that a nation built on a single racial, religious, ethnic, sexual, or any other identity is going to become an inherently unequal nation.

Legal Commentary: Prop 8 Overturned

Today's case:

The 4-3 ruling declared that the state Constitution protects a fundamental "right to marry" that extends equally to same-sex couples. It tossed a highly emotional issue into the election year while opening the way for tens of thousands of gay people to wed in California, starting as early as mid-June.

The majority opinion, by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, declared that any law that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation will from this point on be constitutionally suspect in California in the same way as laws that discriminate by race or gender, making the state's high court the first in the nation to adopt such a stringent standard.

A lot of people will be focusing on the first paragraph, but I'm actually interested in the second paragraph. Not only in this instance is the law an over-reach, but for the State of California, any law that singles out sexual orientation will be treated as suspect. That's a stronger, broader protection than granting the right of marriage.

Which, of course, is awesome enough.

My Mind 8/2 - 8/9

How I was keeping my mind clean this week:

• Apparently LeBron James also got a bunch of sales people fired, simply by being so awesome.
• Dreamy Peter Orszag (former OMB chief) says that running the budget sucks at the time but feels better afterwards.
• Sharron Angle: "I want them to ask me the questions that we want to answer..."
• Terrifuckifying, to coin a word:

How I was keeping my mind fit this week:

• The Varieties of Religious Experience.

Important facts:

• Fareed Zakaria gives back his ADL prize-money over the "mosque" controversy.
• Speaking of which, a majority of New Yorkers are against that "mosque." Except, if you look at the borough breakdown, in Manhattan only 33% are against it. So how are a majority of New Yorkers against it? Fucking Staten Island, at 76% opposition.
• Ah, what the hell -- you should read a history of Cordoba too.
• As I previously covered, the Library of Congress expanded fair use in some pretty useful ways -- that article covered it well.
• On the subject of Rules of Engagement, here's Maryland police shooting dogs at will. And an Andrew Sullivan reader rounding up the other instances.

Things to watch in the future:

• On the subject of last installment's Kurdistan selling oil to Iran, comes the arrival of Iran's new ambassador to Iraq -- an Iraqi who fought against Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war. First on his agenda, apparently, is trying to sort out the division between the two Shi'ite blocks that's preventing formation of a new government.
• Nullification theory. It started with Jefferson's Virginia and Kentucky resolutions, and then with John C. Calhoun's nullification in South Carolina, and ended in the civil war. Until Governor Perry advocated cession, and now Missouri is considering nullifying the Health Care bill.
• A sequel to the Borat movie, filmed in Kazakhstan.

Circle Rules Federation - Looking Back

A quick look back at our league's first game of the season (not one my team was in):

My Mind Lately - August Cleaning

How I was keeping my mind clean this week:

• Classic words of democracy, set to music. I'm a dork.
• Basil Marceaux, who is really just this A Bit of Fry and Laurie sketch.
• Officials Say The Darndest Things, Pro Publica's new Tumblr.
• Koreans learning how to cuss. It's actually pretty cool because you learn how to translate cuss words, but you also learn what it's like for an immigrant to be cussed at right at the end.
• Beware: Hipsters.
• Jane Austen kicks ass.
• AT-AT's can be cute.
• Weiner:

How I was keeping my mind fit this week:

• This NPR Planet Money podcast about the value of Pelicans. The central problem -- how do we put a price (number) on those things which we think are priceless -- resonated with me and my dream for one day quantifying the arts.
• Class-based affirmative action. Or as we call it, socialism.

Important facts:

• Financial reform affects Broadway and Off-Broadway fundraising, although Off-Off Broadway/Indy theaters will still just sell booze to people.
• My friend the costume designer puts out a list of things actors/actresses need in their closet.

Things to watch in the future:

• Ta-Nehisi Coates gets in on the Afghanistan/Rules of Engagement issue that I was talking about here. Oh, and Conflict Theater had a post on similar issues on the domestic front.
• There's a fight brewing in Iraq over Kurdistan selling oil to Iran. Although apparently it's less important than the Clinton wedding.
• ASCAP v. Creative Commons.

Monetary Policy COMEDY On a Sunday Morning

Monetary Policy on a Sunday Morning

In "proof-that-I-like-sane-conservatives-when-I-find-them" news, this NYTimes Op Ed from Reagan's former Office of Management of the Budget head is a very succinct and thorough accounting of how the Republican party systemically tore to pieces the concept of a balanced budget going all the way back to Richard Nixon. RTWT.

It's a very convincing case of how Republicans have torn apart our financial management, to the point that I almost hate to observe that the Democrats have more involvement in it than the editorial acknowledges. But there's a lot in the op-ed that I certainly hadn't considered before -- particularly how Nixon's choice to end Breton Woods still has crippling effects today.