From bias free of every kind, this trial must be tried

ProtectMarriage, the people who brought us Prop. 8, California’s 2008 anti-gay-marriage initiative, are demanding that the ruling against the proposition be set aside on the grounds of the judge’s bias, not because he’s gay – no they certainly would never suggest such a thing – but because he’s in a long-term relationship with another dude. If Judge Walker were having one-night stands with a different pickup from a leather bar every night, they would be okay with that. And a little bit aroused.

ProtectMarriage do not say in their appeal whether judges in heterosexual marriages, or indeed in long-term heterosexual relationships that might lead to marriage, should also recuse themselves.

A very Hope-y Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day

Another year, another “Armenian Remembrance Day,” the term Obama uses for Armenian GENOCIDE Remembrance Day. Again, he uses the words massacre and atrocity, and the Armenian term Meds Yeghern (great tragedy), but not genocide, never genocide, and again he uses the passive voice: “In 1915, 1.5 million Armenians were massacred or marched to their death”. By whom? He does not say. Possibly by a Martian invasion. Possibly by leprechauns. He talks about the need to learn from history, but he’s awfully vague about what that history is.

My favorite euphemism for genocide – “common history”: “I support the courageous steps taken by individuals in Armenia and Turkey to foster a dialogue that acknowledges their common history.”

And what should they do after this dialogue? They should “rebuild bridges of understanding toward a better tomorrow.” So get right on that, guys.


Naturally, Turkey complained about the mere acknowledgment that Armenians died, saying that Obama “distorts the historical facts. ... One-sided statements that interpret controversial historical events by a selective sense of justice prevent understanding of the truth.” Damn that selective sense of justice, always getting Obama into trouble and hilarious hijinks!

Today -100: April 25, 1911: Of colonies and kidnapping

France is using some unrest in Fez as a pretext to land troops and turn Morocco into a French colony.

Los Angeles Assistant District Attorney W J Ford is arrested in Indianapolis for kidnapping for his part in the apprehension of John McNamara for the LA Times bombing, and they’re looking for the LA Times’s private detective as well.

Today -100: April 24, 1911: Of noisy deaf schools

The terms of the armistice in Mexico: all combatants stay where they are, not reinforcing their positions; work on fortifications, railroad repair, etc to be suspended; provisions can be brought into besieged Juarez (but not booze).

The Mexican rebels cut the last remaining railroad route to the US, because it was being used to move government troops. The rebels had an understanding with the railroad company that it was not to do such a thing if it wanted to keep operating.

Disappointing Headline of the Day -100: “Too Noisy in Deaf School.” A couple of employees like to party.

It’s official

Syria hates sad people.

I never had anything new

Michigan state senator Bruce Caswell proposes that the $79 a year the state spends on clothing for children in foster care only be spent in thrift shops for second-hand clothing, saying that when he was a kid, “I never had anything new.”

Poor Bruce. I propose that we rectify this by all chipping in to get Bruce Caswell everything, and I mean everything, new in the Sears catalog.

Inserted anally.

Today -100: April 23, 1911: Of armistices, trucks, dirigibles, and cigarettes

Madero agrees to an armistice, without Díaz having agreed to resign. Madero is now denying that he ever demanded that. Whether all of Madero’s lieutenants actually consider the armistice binding on them is another matter.

The NYT notes that Madero has been pretty much out of the loop, not having seen a newspaper in his camp for a month, and has just learned, for example, of the negotiations between his father, the Mexican ambassador to the US, and Finance Minister Limantour.

Rebels capture Acapulco.

NY has a parade of trucks. The article has pictures of 1911 oil trucks, armored bank cars, dump trucks, mail wagons etc., if you’re into that sort of thing.

However, horses were still in big use in commercial deliveries (but losing ground: another article compares the cost per mile and finds autos substantially cheaper), which is doubtless why horse theft is bigger in 1911 New York City than in the Far West.

Germans are planning to build a really, really big dirigible, capable of carrying 200 passengers, with cabins, a promenade, dining saloon, an onboard newspaper, and parachutes for every passenger. They will carry passengers across the Atlantic, which will take 3 days, for a fare of $200.

The McNamara brothers, union officials, are arrested by private detectives for the dynamiting of the LA Times building last October, along with one Ortie E. McGonigle, which sounds like the name of a W.C. Fields character. A rather large quantity of dynamite was found as well.

(Update: no fun: later editions correct the name to Ortie McManigle.)

The lower house of the Colorado Legislature votes to ban cigarettes.

Bomb bomb bomb, bomb Libya

McCain of Arabia spent several hours in Libya and was therefore able to declare, “I have met these brave fighters and they are not Al Qaida.” So that settles that.

None of these people are Al Qaida

However, if the US doesn’t step up the military intervention, “I do worry that if there is a stalemate here, that it could open the door to radical Islamic fundamentalism.” So they’re not Al Qaida but if they become Al Qaida it’ll be Obama’s fault for not dropping enough bombs. Okay then.

Today -100: April 22, 1911: Of the helplessness of the American potato

NY Gov. Dix explains that he appointed William Buchanan as a delegate to the 3rd National Peace Congress because he had been active in the peace movement in the past. But not the recent past, since, it turns out, he’s been dead for two years. But, to be fair, quite peaceful.

The Mexican government responds to Madero’s demand for Díaz’s resignation by breaking off negotiations.

The Canadian Reciprocity Bill passes the House, you will be delighted to hear, 264-89. Though this was the biggest item on Taft’s to do list for 1911, the Republicans voted against it 78-67. My favorite sentence in the article: “Mr. Nelson tried to get the other side to recognize the helplessness of the American potato against Canadian competition.”

Today -100: April 21, 1911: Of ultimata, lynchings, and retaliations

Francisco Madero gives President-for-Not-Very-Long Díaz 24 hours to resign, or he will attack Juarez.

Sen. William Stone (D-Missouri) introduces a resolution, in the badly chosen words of the NY Times, “authorizing the President, if necessary, to cross the frontier and by force guarantee the protection of American lives and property”. Let’s all take a moment to imagine President Taft waddling across the border to by force guarantee the protection of American lives and property. Other senators objected that this resolution would be tantamount to a declaration of war. It is tabled for now.

A black man who shot a white man in a pool room in Livermore, Kentucky, is lynched in the opera house (which the marshal had thought more defensible than the jail house). 50 men shot him from the orchestra pit.

The Republican-dominated Rhode Island Legislature refuses to appropriate money for a new science hall at RI State College in retaliation for the role some of its professors took in the 1910 election working for the Democrats, who took control of the South Kingstown city council.

Today -100: April 20, 1911: Of church & state, and disputes at the border

Portugal will issue a decree for the separation of church and state. Priests will be off the government payroll and will be legally allowed to marry.

Mexican President-for-Now Díaz writes, and leaks (I’m not sure if he ever officially sent it), a reply to Washington, denying any responsibility for the stray gunfire during the fight for Agua Prieta that killed Americans in Douglas, AZ. He casts blame on the rebels and on Americans fighting on the rebel side, and he counter-charges various violations of neutrality, saying that US soldiers disarmed some Mexican soldiers and turned over their weapons to the rebels and that a Federal lieut. was wounded by a shot from the American Custom House. He also says that the citizens of Douglas who were shot had only themselves to blame for being lookie-loos.

Perspective

Obama held an Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House, because he’s totally not a Muslim.

EVERYONE AGREES THAT JESUS’S ATTEMPT TO FOLLOW-UP ON THE LOAVES & FISHES THING WAS REALLY LAME: “We all live in the hustle and bustle of our work. ... The inbox keeps on accumulating.”

REMINDERS LIKE LISTENING TO JOE BIDEN’S STORIES ABOUT HOW HE USED TO RIDE THE TRAIN: “we must always make sure that we are keeping things in perspective. ... But nothing beats scripture and the reminder of the eternal.”

WHAT HE PRAYS FOR: “I pray that our time here this morning will strengthen us, both individually as believers and as Americans.” So he’s praying for the success of the prayer breakfast? And does he then pray for the success of his prayer for the success of the prayer breakfast?


WHAT WE ARE REMINDED OF: “we are reminded that there’s something about the resurrection -- something about the resurrection of our savior, Jesus Christ, that puts everything else in perspective.” CONTEST: Exactly what does the “resurrection” of “our savior” Jesus Christ put into perspective for Obama?

Today -100: April 19, 1911: Of retreats and vivisection

The Mexican government accepts Washington’s demand that both sides in the civil war arrange themselves so that bullets in the civil war stop crossing the border. Or to put it another way, they are willing to accept the establishment of a neutral zone that just happens to favor them in Agua Prieta and Juarez.

Taft has been making it clear that he will not order troops to cross into Mexico without explicit instructions from Congress, as he believes, correctly but almost uniquely among presidents, the Constitution requires.

The rebels evacuate Agua Prieta; they’d won all the battles but ran out of ammo. They blame US customs and secret service agents for seizing 100,000 rounds of ammunition shipped to them on the Arizona side of the border. The rebels object strongly to this action, noting (correctly) that arms sales to Mexican rebels do not violate US law. However, the former commander-in-chief of the rebels in the city, the guy who fled to the US yesterday, blames the defeat on rebels who drank up all the booze in the city.

The NYT has a pro-vivisection editorial.

Today -100: April 18, 1911: Of surrenders, extending racism, and beverages in the Philippines

The battle for Agua Prieta, on the US-Mexican border, continues, with federal attempts to recapture the town from the rebels being fought off, although at one point the rebel commander surrendered himself – to the Americans. Both sides ignored the American demand that they not fire any bullets that might cross the border, and 7 people in Douglas, AZ are wounded.

Rep. Everis Hayes (R-CA) introduces a bill to extend all existing laws excluding Chinese immigrants to “Japanese, Koreans, Tartars, Malays, Afghans, East Indians, Lascars, Hindus, and all other persons of the Mongolian or Asiatic race”.

A US cavalry officer in the Philippines is killed by someone described by the NYT correspondent as “a Moro fanatic, who, crazed with religious passion, ran amuck, thirsting for the blood of a Christian.” There will be more of this.

Today -100: April 17, 1911: Of champagne rioters, Easter riots, and Mormons

The US instructs the Mexican federals and the insurgents that in the future they must so arrange their battles that bullets not cross the border.

The Mexican government is calling for volunteers to join the army for six months. The Times notes that in addition to the regular army, there are private ones maintained by mine owners, rich estate owners and the like.

Headline of the Day -100: “Champagne Rioters Calm.”

Another nicely incongruous headline: “Easter Worshippers Riot.” In Chicopee, Mass., the Polish organizations traditionally march to church on Easter, with brass bands and everything. The priest disapproves of both the brass bands and the everything and cancelled the 5:00 Easter Mass, locking the church. So there was an actual Easter riot, with knives drawn.

Other Easter news: “Easter Paraders See Suicide’s Body.”

Another headline: “Draws Royal Flush; Dies.; Chicago Girl Falls Lifeless from Her Chair in a Poker Game.”

An anti-Mormon mob in Birkenhead, England, attacks the Mormon meeting house and demands that Mormon missionaries leave town (there is a bit of a moral panic going on in the UK over Mormons coming to Britain to Steal Our Women).

Quote of the Day

Some dude in Misurata: “I jumped onto the ground when the explosions started. My friend did not. His head came off.”

Today -100: April 16, 1911: Of sane progressives, champagne riots, and scary cats

Teddy Roosevelt praises LaFollette and his followers’ work in Wisconsin: “The progressive movement has been sane in Wisconsin.”

Headline of the Day -100: “More Champagne Riots.” Classy. Actually, riots in the Champagne region of France, which have been going on for days. Something about the legal delimitation of the Champagne region. Whatever. Lots of wine workers running around destroying the property of wine growers and wine merchants, rumors of anarchist involvement.

Other Headline of the Day -100: “Cats Scare Chicago.” The Health Dept wants to kill stray cats.

Today -100: April 15, 1911: Of sacrilege, the 14th Amendment, and publicity

Pennsylvania bans sacrilegious plays, movies, operas or vaudeville.

British marines land to protect a Baja California town from an insurrecto attack (which fails to materialize).

The insurrectos now control the city of Agua Prieta, and will install there a provisional government for the state of Sonora.

Rep. Thomas Hardwick (D-Georgia) introduces a bill to repeal the 14th Amendment, specifically the provisions (which as far as I know have never been used) to punish states that disfranchise (black) adult males.

The Publicity Bill, requiring reporting and publication of campaign contributions before general elections, passes the House 302-0. The Senate version, though, was amended to postpone publication until after the election. The Republicans failed to win an amendment to include primaries and other nomination processes, which means Democrats in the one-party South are effectively not covered by the bill.

It is impossible to imagine a future for Libya with Qaddafi in power

Barack Obama, David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy have written an op-ed piece for the International Herald Tribune, The Times of London and Le Figaro about Justin Bieber Libya.

ROCKETS IN ONE PLACE AND A MEDIEVAL SIEGE IN ANOTHER? IS LIBYA EXPERIENCING SOME SORT OF BREAKDOWN IN THE SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM? “But the people of Libya are still suffering terrible horrors at Qaddafi’s hands each and every day. His rockets and shells rained down on defenseless civilians in Ajdabiya. The city of Misurata is enduring a medieval siege”. And it was American, British and French companies that sold Qaddafi all those rockets and giant catapults.

OMG, THERE IS A BREAKDOWN IN THE SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM! AND IT MAY STOP FUNCTIONING ALTOGETHER! The UN mandate “is not to remove Qaddafi by force. But it is impossible to imagine a future for Libya with Qaddafi in power.”

IT IS UNTHINKABLE BECAUSE SUCH A THING HAS NEVER HAPPENED IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF MANKIND. NOT EVER. “It is unthinkable that someone who has tried to massacre his own people can play a part in their future government.”

BUT NOT FAILED PARIAHS. “Furthermore, it would condemn Libya to being not only a pariah state, but a failed state too.” Did you know that “pariah” comes from a Tamil word for members of a hereditary caste of people who played drums at festivals and were therefore banned from religious processions, rather like Ringo Starr?

WHEN DID HE ACTUALLY HAVE THAT “CONSENT” AND IN WHAT FORM DID THE LIBYAN PEOPLE GIVE IT? PEOPLE IN ALL THE DICTATORSHIPS AND HEREDITARY MONARCHIES SUPPORTED BY THE US, FRANCE AND BRITAIN WOULD LIKE TO KNOW, SO THEY CAN MAKE IT CLEAR TO THEM THAT THEY DON’T WANT TO LIVE UNDER DICTATORSHIPS AND HEREDITARY MONARCHIES EITHER: “And because he has lost the consent of his people any deal that leaves him in power would lead to further chaos and lawlessness.”

OR A NEW CAR. WE CAN’T AFFORD A NEW CAR OR A NEW SAFE HAVEN FOR EXTREMISTS. OR THAT BIG-SCREEN TV WE’VE HAD OUR EYE ON. “Neither Europe, the region, or the world can afford a new safe haven for extremists.”

WAR 4EVER! “However, so long as Qaddafi is in power, NATO must maintain its operations so that civilians remain protected and the pressure on the regime builds.” So we don’t have a mandate to remove Qaddafi by force, but we’ll use military operations to build pressure on his regime until he is out of power. I totally see the distinction.

NOT YOU, SAIF! “Then a genuine transition from dictatorship to an inclusive constitutional process can really begin, led by a new generation of leaders.”

MAKING THE WORLD SAFE FOR DEMOCRACY: “But it will be the people of Libya, not the U.N., who choose their new constitution, elect their new leaders, and write the next chapter in their history.” Assuming the Libyan space-time continuum can be restored, of course.

Today -100: April 14, 1911: Of senators, rush hours, and Cromwell’s head

As insurrectos battle to take the border town of Agua Prieta, US soldiers of the First Cavalry cross into Mexico to stop the fighting (bullets fired at fleeing Federals were hitting people in Douglas, Arizona, killing 3).

The House passes a resolution for a constitutional amendment for the direct election of senators, 296-16. An amendment to the resolution calling for control and regulation of those elections to be kept in federal rather than state hands lost badly, so Southern states will be able to continue to disenfranchise black people (not that federal control of House elections has stopped them anyway).

A letter bitching about the Interborough subway uses the phrase “rush hour.” The Online Etymology Dictionary says the term dates to 1890. Well, I found that interesting.

British Prime Minister Asquith has decided that the nation will not purchase a head that is supposed to be that of Oliver Cromwell from some clergyman. Asquith has some doubts as to its authenticity, although “the measurements of the head are said to conform with what is known of the Protector.”