Author Archives: Stefan Geens

Pledge of Allegiance, I

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Honest libertarians everywhere will be rejoicing at the news that the pledge of allegiance is unconstitutional because it refers to the US as one nation “under God,” which violates the separation of Church and State. The decision was just handed down by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Not enough people realize that freedom of religion also includes freedom from religion.

Pertinent info: The pledge was first codified by Congress in 1942. “Under God” was added to the pledge in 1954, also by Congress.

The plaintiff-appelant Michael Newdow, did not seek damages, but “declaratory and injunctive relief;” he simply wants “under God” to be removed from the pledge, not that the pledge be abolished outright.

Excerpts:

In the context of the Pledge, the statement that the United States is a nation “under God” is an endorsement of religion. It is a profession of a religious belief, namely, a belief in monotheism. The recitation that ours is a nation “under God” is not a mere acknowledgment that many Americans believe in a deity. Nor is it merely descriptive of the undeniable historical significance of religion in the founding of the Republic. Rather, the phrase “one nation under God” in the context of the Pledge is normative. To recite the Pledge is not to describe the United States; instead, it is to swear allegiance to the values for which the flag stands: unity, indivisibility, liberty, justice, and — since 1954 — monotheism.

[…]

A profession that we are a nation “under God” is identical, for Establishment Clause purposes, to a profession that we are a nation “under Jesus,” a nation “under Vishnu,” a nation “under Zeus,” or a nation “under no god,” because none of these professions can be neutral with respect to religion.

[…]

Although students cannot be forced to participate in recitation of the Pledge, the school district is nonetheless conveying a message of state endorsement of a religious belief when it requires public school teachers to recite, and lead the recitation of, the current form of the Pledge.

Interesting fact: The addition of “under God” to the pledge was made during the Eisenhower administration, “when the government was publicly inveighing against atheistic communism.”

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Cortland Street stop, N/R

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For 4 years up until September 10, 2001, I often took the N/R subway to work, getting on at 8th Street and getting off at Cortlandt Street, where passengers were disgorged into the huge underground mall below the World Trade Center. I would track past hundreds of commuters, a J.Crew, a Gap, a Sephora; perhaps I’d get a cafe latte from New World Coffee, at the North-east base of the North tower, before heading though its entrance hall on my way to the pedestrian bridge that led to the World Financial Center.

Soon after Sept 11, 2001, the N/R train resumed its service, but without stopping at Cortlandt Street. The first few days, passengers would look up from their doings and stare quietly out the carriage windows at the wooden support struts that had been hastily built. In orange spray paint on the walls, “DO NOT STOP,” conductors were told. After a few months, as the salvage efforts on Ground Zero progressed, the station was cleaned up, and the struts disappeared. People no longer looked up or grew quiet as we passed the station.

Yesterday, for the first time, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a bright spot where the mall was. Today, I confirmed it: the exit that used to take me to the mall has been opened by workers, and it leads to bright daylight.

I’ve grappled with the idea that in my head, the mental map I’ve built up from years of walking through the World Trade Center still exists, even though the place does not. Until today, subconsciously, the mall still existed behind those boarded-up doors.

In the same way, being kept away from the actual site of the disaster protected me from having to update this map, but as of yesterday, they let you walk all along the southern perimeter of Ground Zero, with an unobstructed view of the site, much like any construction site. I walked by there. You can clearly see the rebuilding of the 1/9 subway line, as well as many partly demolished subterranean levels. I’d seen some of this before from our office’s window at Falkor LLC, but being right next to it, on the ground, makes it all a lot more immediate. Go and have a look if you haven’t been recently.

Belgo-Israeli relations

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A Belgian appeals court has thrown out a lawsuit accusing Ariel Sharon of crimes against humanity, on a technicality. I know at least one family member whose job will become a lot easier:-)

As the article underscores, neither the Lebanese who filed the lawsuit nor the Israeli government have ever seen this as a legal proceeding, but as a political means to an end. For Belgium, the law was intended to be among the most progressive in the world in terms of prosecuting violations of human rights, but it turned into a nightmare when complaints brought by citizens affected bilateral relations between Belgium and the states whose heads were indicted. The law in effect allowed individuals to form Belgian foreign policy. Also, it promoted tit-for-tat retributions–in addition to Sharon, Arafat was indicted as well, and so was Saddam Hussein, I believe.

But now the law has been defanged. And a good thing too, because one embarrassing aspect of this law is that it is meant to have universal jurisdiction–nobody in the world is immune. Nobody, that is, except for Belgian members of parliament, who are immune to Belgian laws.

Bush on the Middle East

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Bush’s policy statement on the Middle East had some articulate flourishes: Notably, he separated the current Palestinian leadership from the aspirations of the Palestinian people, and thus seemed to be trying to boost support for a new civil society that Edward Said has been documenting of late as a breeding ground for a future generation of Palestinian politicians. To this end, Bush called on new elections in Palestine, and dangled the carrot of a provisional Palestinian state if certain hurdles were met, such as the establishment of a constitutional framework, and a fair, working judiciary.

He also balanced the usual statements of understanding about the terrorism that Israelis are being subjected to right now with an appreciation of the “anger and despair of the Palestinian people,” and that it is “untenable for Palestinians to live in squalor and occupation”. He also said that “permanent occupation threatens Israel’s identity and democracy.” These opinions are not exactly what Sharon or Netanyahu would volunteer, and in doing so Bush makes an effort to separate his position from that of Israel.

But if he really wanted to address the huge chasm between Israeli and Palestinian perceptions of what would amount to a fair resolution of this mess, Bush should also have criticized Israel’s policy over the past decade of simultaneously building settlements on occupied territories while pursuing a negotiated peace. This settlement policy has negated any chance of success of a peace process, and it continues. This is perhaps the biggest perceived violation Palestinians feel towards their land, and one that will need to be addressed before a permanent peace is possible.

I think the hurdles placed before the Palestinians will prove too high, when all that is offered at the end is a provisional Palestinian state, with final status talks about Jerusalem still not resolved. That amounts to too big a stick and too small a carrot. And as long as Palestinians feel an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital is dependent on the whim of an Israeli government that is in no mood to dole out favors, the dead end of terrorism will remain a seductive lure for those morons who crave “martyrdom”.

On a different note, is the phrase “plight of the Palestinians” used so often because it alliterates so well?

Cup Runneth Over-time

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Another reason why the east coast is better than the west coast: New York cops don’t care if England fans are screaming their heads off in your bar over pints of ale at 7am, while in San Francisco they’ll raid you if you give out free coffee after 2am.

World Cup predictions? Ideal finals would be Germany-Turkey (for the geopolitical implications) and Brazil-Korea (for the effect it will have on football’s popularity in Asia if Korea wins, as well as the blow to Brazil’s ego).

Movies: Minority Report

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Minority Report is a fantastic movie that everybody must rush to go see twice. It melds Spielberg’s knack for movie magic with riveting science fiction, and pays plenty of tributes to previous science fiction classics. And finally a director has managed to create a blockbuster movie with a wholly convincing future world that does NOT look like a Blade Runner clone–unlike most other recent science fiction, including Attack of the Clones and The Fifth Element. A big influence is A Clockwork Orange: look for such details as the eye operation and the drunk in the hallway–but also in the dystopian aspects of the society that is portrayed.

The plot is complicated, and Kim has rightly pointed out a problem that I haven’t found a satisfying answer for in the newsgroups, though others there have noted it. Spoilers follow, so please see the movie first…

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Pre-cogs can see murders that will happen in the future unless they are prevented by the pre-crime police. One way to make a pre-cog see a future murder is to hire an assassin–as with the ploy to kill Agatha’s mother. But the way in which John Anderton is set up doesn’t seem to fit this requirement. All we have is a paradox, because it is not enough to hire somebody to wait to be killed–this is not sufficient cause for a murder to happen: the intended murderer–Anderton–only starts the chain of events when he sees himself in the pre-cog’s vision. Director Burgess does not appear to have any control as to whether the pre-cogs see this particular future and show it to Anderton–and so he gets set up–or see a future in which Anderton does nothing, in which case nothing would have happened and there would not have been a setup.

Is all that Burgess does hire a murder victim? That to me seems insufficient to propel the plot. But perhaps I’ve missed something, and I need a second viewing. In the newsgroups, some argued that indeed this is enough. Others noted the special aspects of a future that is perceived by a intended perpetrator–in other words, only in Anderton’s case was it sufficient to merely hire an intended victim, because he has access to futures, including his own, and is in a unique position to act on this pre-cognition. Burgess would know this.

My own theory is that Agatha is much more of a plot driver than we are let on. She shows the stored memory of her mother’s murder to Anderton in order to set him on a path to solving it. Part of this process involves Burgess trying to derail him, and in doing so he is shown to be the villain, and the murder of Agatha’s mother is solved. There are still some loose ends here, but I will go see the movie again and check if this interpretation stands up to scrutiny.

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Dept. of the Bleeding Obvious

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From the department of the bleeding obvious comes news that eating too much makes you fat, according to this gem of a report. However, the shocking conclusion is that “Americans are being manipulated by the food industry into eating far more than they need, or even want to.”

You know what’s next, of course. A 550-pound man will sue McDonalds for being asked by employees over a period of 15 years if he wanted to supersize his meals, when they should have known supersizing was dangerous to his health. Expect McDonalds to deny that their products kill, however: “The food and restaurant industries have started to strike back at such campaigns, saying it is a lack of exercise and not eating more that is to blame.”

I personally plan to sue my local movie theater for offering a bucket of popcorn for only 50c more than the $4 dixie-cup size. I thought it was a bargain, but now I realize “People think they are getting bargains but they are just getting calories”. Yep, value marketing is manipulation, and I look forward to having my day in court.

And Starbucks is not going to be let off lightly either. For years, they’ve been asking me if I wanted something to eat with that coffee. And I daresay that on occasion, I’ve succumbed to the serpent-headed lure of a pretty barista and asked for that chocolate croissant just to impress her.

But even if I haven’t ordered the supersized portions at restaurants, merely sitting near friends who do can have devastating consequences; inevitably, fries get stolen, food gets shared around, and deserts are ordered collectively. Passive eating may well be the next great public health epidemic.

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Belgique: Nul Points!

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And so Belgium’s World Cup ambitions end with a 2-0 loss against Brazil, despite an early Belgian goal that was disallowed by a blind referee and some great game play that made the Brazlians look decidedly un-stellar. Of the 4 teams I’ve been rooting for (in order of allegiance: Belgium, Sweden, England, US) England and the US have made it to the quarter-finals. Looking more and more possible: an England – Germany final rematch.

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