Like most Americans, my interest in soccer peaked with youth soccer (Go BYSA!) and only returns during the men’s and women’s World Cup tournaments. But anyone with a passing interest in the game can tell FIFA is terribly corrupt.
Last week’s FIFA arrests were surprising and long overdue. Awarding the 2022 World Cup to the sweltering desert nation of Qatar was more than a bad idea, it’s been deadly for the workers tasked with building the infrastructure for the games. It’s a shame bad corrupt banks aren’t subjected to anywhere near the same level of scrutiny as corrupt sports leagues.
With the fall of Ramadi in Iraq and Palmyra in Syria, fingers are pointing faster than you can say “Preemptive War.” John McCain thinks the crazy Islamic extremists of ISIS wouldn’t be causing the world all this trouble if only Obama hadn’t spent so much time worrying about global warming. Jeb Bush says Al Qaeda in Iraq was wiped out and ISIS didn’t exist when his dear ol’ brother was president.
I know our memories are short, but does anyone remember a certain rush to war that resulted in mayhem throughout Iraq and the Middle East? I seem to remember something happened in 2003-ish. Granted, George W. Bush didn’t personally found ISIS and pitch the idea to scores of jihadists, but methinks the disaster that was the Iraq War may have had a tiny bit to do with the creation of ISIS. (By the way, the National Counterterrorism Center points out that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was established in 2004.)
Pundits and politicians are blaming the chaos in the Middle East on Barack Obama, as if crazed extremists didn’t exist in the region until Barry took the oath of office. It makes perfect logical sense to distract voters from the fact that it was the invasion of Iraq, the disastrous occupation and the destabilizing sectarian political structure that helped give rise to ISIS. Obama isn’t perfect but there are plenty of other culprits who contributed to the current mess. Be sure to like, comment, share and all that good social stuff—and check out the links behind the cartoon.
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This week, after a string of raucous debates and rousing voting sprees involving nearly as much action and nail-biting excitement as a low-octane team sport (at least, for those of us who follow CSPAN like it's ESPN and shout rallying cries like 'Go sports!' at actual sports games) the Senate allowed several sections of the Patriot Act to sunset. No cause for alarm though, despite the world-is-burning protestations of certain politicians. The world did not ignite in this 'dark' period, and many of the Patriot Act's powers were restored two days later with the passing of the USA Freedom Act- though the new law arguably reigned surveillance powers in a bit.
So what does it all mean? How will the transition play out? And can we believe the title of the new bill? Can we expect the USA Freedom Act to indeed spread Freedom throughout the USA, much like the Patriot Act was the definition of all Actions most Patriotic?
Well... it's a start. A very small start. It's the first lumbering steps of a long marathon. (Check out that sports reference.) Much of the Patriot Act remains intact. The part of the Act familiar to most, however, is the NSA's bulk data collection program. This has ended with the lapsing of the Patriot Act in a sense, but only in the sense that bulk collection responsibility has moved from government to those other stalwart paragons of trust: phone companies. Phone companies who must turn over data to government if so requested.
Thus, a new dawn for mass surveillance has occurred. But a new dawn in the way that Bill Murray was technically greeted by new dawn each morning in Groundhog Day.
Good morning, America.
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From the AT&T survey mentioned in the comic:
When you see the driver next to you looking at their phone, it’s no longer safe to assume they’re texting. New research from AT&T shows nearly 4-in-10 smartphone users tap into social media while driving. Almost 3-in-10 surf the net. And surprisingly, 1-in-10 video chat.Great! Because 32,719 motor vehicle deaths a year -- or 10.3 out of every 100,000 people -- certainly isn't enough.
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The massive recall of cars with exploding airbags got me thinking about other things that are deadly and/or dangerous either by design or neglect.
The recall of the Patriot Act, or at least the sunset of its most pernicious sections, looks like it could really happen, thanks to Mitch McConnell being incredibly bad at Majority Leading the Senate. Unfortunately, everything else in this cartoon will probably be injuring/maiming/killing innocent people for years to come.
