Critical Mass

George Clooney yesterday "urged members of the U.N.'s Security Council to help end atrocities in the [Darfur] region [of Sudan]."  From the AP:

"The United States has called it genocide," Clooney told council members. "For you it's called ethnic cleansing. But make no mistake _ it is the first genocide of the 21st century. And if it continues unchecked it will not be the last."

In stark words he told the U.N. diplomats: "In many ways it is unfair, but it is nonetheless true that this genocide will be on your watch. How you deal with it will be your legacy, your Rwanda, your Cambodia, your Auschwitz."

Granted, I still think there is a problem when " U.N. staffers gathered outside the basement meeting room Thursday to catch a glimpse of the actor burst into applause as Clooney [. . .] arrived," especially when he was accompanied by a true hero like Elie Wiesel; and I still think the UN is flawed as an organization; and I find irony in the fact that Clooney is quite willing to launch a military force into Sudan to stop atrocities there but is not willing to do so in other places like Iraq.  That said, the genocide in Sudan needs to be stopped, and if it takes Clooney to get it done, so be it.

Richard Miniter of the New York Post has an article entitled "A Deadly Kindness" out today about the treatment of "detainees" in Guantanamo.  Here's the thesis:

The high-minded critics who complain about torture are wrong. We are far too soft on these guys - and, as a result, aren't getting the valuable intelligence we need to save American lives.

Read the full story here.

The "blame corporate America" mentality lives on. WORLD Magazine reports:

Hedgehogs 1, McDonald's 0. A group of environmentalists won a concession from the world's largest fast-food company when McDonald's announced it would redesign its McFlurry cup. The British Hedgehog Preservation Society complained for years that hedgehogs would come upon littered McFlurry containers, make an attempt to lick up the leftover ice cream, and get their heads stuck in the cup. In the redesign, McDonald's made the opening in the container too small for hedgehogs to penetrate, though the spiny mammals may have preferred a container with a mouth wide enough to permit easy access to the leftover ice cream without a danger of getting stuck.

Did anyone think to stop harassing McDonald's and start blaming the people who litter?

T-Shirt Slogan: "McDonald's doesn't kill hedgehogs. Discourteous, lawbreaking citizens kill hedgehogs."

London's Daily Mail has a news story about the Bush assassination movie Death of a President, to be shown on Britain's Channel 4 sometime in October.  Included in the story is a video clip from the movie, the first half showing an anti-Bush rally in "Federal Plaza" (presumably in Chicago, judging by the article), and the second half ostensibly showing the assassination itself.  I have to admit, I watched the clip a couple of times, even in slow motion, and I didn't see anyone who looked like George W. in it, but the scene is so crazy that it is difficult to make much of anything out.

The protest scene seemed pretty accurate, based on my own experience witnessing the anti-G8 rally in Edinburgh, Scotland last summer.  As to putting the assassination clip on the internet, I can only guess at the purpose.  Is it to drum up support for the film?  To show just how shocking an inappropriate it is?  I don't know.

Less than an hour ago I attended Yale’s version of a 9/11 memorial service, which was considerably worse than I had expected. To put it in brief: We were told that we were citizens of the world and need to concentrate on love; we heard the national anthem but there was no “God Bless America”; the Muslim chaplain got up to read us an Arabic poem; President Levin didn’t (couldn’t?) attend, and sent a student to read his speech for him (in which the word “terrorism” was not exactly featured); the Yale Rabbi reminded us that we were all of the “three Abrahamic religions” that had some share in 9/11.

Perhaps I heard all these things wrong or just imagined them, but the Yalie standing next to me was just as angry as I was. I hoped that we weren’t alone in expecting a 9/11 memorial service to concentrate on the beauty, greatness, and courage of America, but Yale's administration doesn't love our country, and didn’t feel like praising the US tonight.

A snapshot of a liberal university.

Democratic Senator Jay Rockefeller has said that "the world would be better off today if the United States had never invaded Iraq — even if it means Saddam Hussein would still be running Iraq," reports CBS.

Does Rockefeller stands by his view, even if it means that Saddam Hussein could still be in power if the United States didn't invade?

"Yes. [Saddam] wasn't going to attack us. He would've been isolated there," Rockefeller said. "He would have been in control of that country but we wouldn't have depleted our resources preventing us from prosecuting a war on terror which is what this is all about."