the tindog coffeehouse

There’s been a lot of talk on the Interwebs lately about the “controversial” new album from Christian musician Derek Webb, Stockholm Syndrome. The controversy seems to be primarily over one particular song on the album, “What Matters More”, due to the song’s use of the word “shit”.

I don’t really do music reviews, but after listening to the album for several days, I did want to weigh in with a few thoughts on it.

First, lyrics aside, let me make a comment about the music. I would describe the style as experimental, synth-heavy electronica with moments of dissonance and incongruity. (See, this is why I don’t do music reviews.) Some have compared it to Wilco and Radiohead, which is probably a fair comparison. Sometimes the music works (“Black Eye”, “What You Give Up To Get It”) and sometimes it severely gets in the way (“The State”, “American Flag Umbrella”).

Continue reading…

On Monday, Senator Kay Baily Hutchison officially announced that she will be officially announcing her intent to someday run for governor of Texas. Or something like that.

I was surprised as anyone. I thought she had been already been running for governor for months. I’m so used to her not doing anything substantive as a senator, I just figured she was taking the same approach to her gubernatorial campaign.

But running she is, and she’s already raised $6.7 million. Combined with the $6 million she had leftover from her Senate run, that puts her ahead of incumbent Rick Perry, at least financially.

And so far campaign finances are the only thing the two candidates seem to care about. Hutchison accused Perry of raising funds while the state legislature was still in session (a no-no), and Perry’s staff replied that she is a “liar, liar, pants on fire” (to paraphrase).

If this is any indication of how the rest of the primary season is going to play out, then I’m not interested. At least Carole Keeton “One Tough Grandma” Strayhorn was good for a few chuckles now and then.

Previously:
When will Kay Bailey Hutchison resign?

Just thought this was interesting, considering I’ve discussed (and quoted) author Donald Miller a few times and recently blogged about Robert McNamara. Seems Miller had a a few words to say on his blog about the former Secretary of Defense as well.

Yesterday, Robert S. McNamara passed away. MacNamara was President of Ford Motor Company before going to work at the Department of Defense. He was instrumental in the bombing of Japan in World War II, and is often called the architect of the war in Vietnam. But toward the end of his life, MacNamara began to reconsider his actions. He even wrote a book confessing what he felt were his wrongs. He left the Johnson administration and ran the World Bank, some believe, to make up for the many lives lost under his command.

I don’t have a strong opinion about the war in Vietnam. War is messy, and I tend to believe we had good reason to be there, though it certainly didn’t turn out the way we would have hoped. But hindsight is twenty-twenty. I am more interested in MacNamara, though. I am more interested in a man with a distinguished career suddenly coming out and admitting he was wrong. It is so rarely seen by a government leader.

Like many of those who commented on Miller’s blog, I don’t know that I can buy the theory that McNamara’s move to the World Bank was a way to make up for his role in the Vietnam War. Not that he wasn’t remorseful for his actions — I have no way of knowing that — but I tend to agree more with John Perkins’ assessment of him as an economic imperialist rather than reformed benefactor. Maybe that’s the pessimist in me, or maybe I’m just disillusioned.

Previously:
What do Iran, Honduras, and Robert McNamara have in common?

In a blog post a couple of days ago about Honduras, I mentioned a book by John Perkins called Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. Coincidentally, that same day it was announced that Robert McNamara, the former defense secretary in the Kennedy administration and a key figure in the book, had died. It’s funny to think how McNamara is related to the events unfolding in Honduras, as well as the ongoing protests in Iran.

Confessions centers around Perkins’ career as an “economic hit man” in the ’70s and ’80s, a position whereby governments in underdeveloped nations were made to accept massive loans from organizations such as the World Bank for infrastructure improvements and other public service projects. Once in debt, those nations would then be willing to accept contracts with American companies, who would exploit the countries’ natural resources for their own gain. Such nations would also become politically indebted to the U.S., thus furthering American political influence around the world during the Cold War.

Continue reading…

In 1823 President James Monroe established a policy which came to be known as the Monroe Doctrine. The doctrine stated that efforts by European governments to colonize land or interfere with states in North, Central, or South America would be viewed by the U.S. as an act of aggression. The policy effectively marked the entire western hemisphere as being under the protection and influence of the United States, and revolutions like the one in Cuba in the 1950s were seen as a direct threat to the U.S.

The Monroe Doctrine drove much of America’s foreign policy in Latin America through the 20th Century, but that may be coming to an end, if President Obama’s stance on the recent upheaval in Honduras is any indication.

Continue reading…

On June 28, the President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, was seized by that country’s military on the orders of the Honduran Congress. Upon being escorted out of the country, he was replaced by the head of the Congress, Roberto Micheletti, who was named interim president until the scheduled election in November.

Zelaya’s removal from office was prompted by his pushing of a referendum which would’ve allowed him to serve a second term in office, something not allowed under Honduras’s constitution. Supporters of the coup argue they were only siding with the rule of law. But the international community, including the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Obama administration, have sided with Zelaya, ordering that he be restored to power.

Who’s right?

Continue reading…