And we urge both the government and the demonstrators to exercise restraint at this time

Will Durst explains Social Security reform and coins a phrase I hereby command my fellow bloggers to use: faith-based retirement.

I’m not entirely sure of the dynamics driving the unrest in Uzbekistan. I know the regime is one which boils its enemies alive and which is threatened by Islamic groups that might be less attractive if some other vehicle of opposition existed. The US, which considers President-for-Life Karimov an ally in The War Against Terror (TWAT), has been singularly unhelpful. Here’s Scotty McClellan today:

We have had concerns about human rights in Uzbekistan, but we are concerned about the outbreak of violence, particularly by some members of a terrorist organization that were freed from prison. And we urge both the government and the demonstrators to exercise restraint at this time. The people of Uzbekistan want to see a more representative and democratic government, but that should come through peaceful means, not through violence. And that’s what our message is.

Very on-the-one-hand-on-the-other-hand. He even talks of a more representative and democratic government, being unwilling to admit that the current government is neither. And McClellan adopts Karimov’s characterization of any opposition to his dictatorship as terrorist. As for change coming through peaceful means, I repeat: boils its enemies alive. Not much restraint there.

This revolution, or whatever it is, hasn’t been assigned a color yet. Where’s Tom Ridge when you need him? What color is boiled human flesh?

The deputy leader of the state of Bremen, Peter Gloystein, has had to resign after pouring a magnum of champagne over a homeless man. He said it was a joke. Maybe it’s just the way he tells it.