This is a quickie for those of you who find Europe intriguing. I don't want to be accused of being Euro-centric, but come on: these people are sort of fascinating and non-threatening (violence-wise) at the same time. That's certainly rare enough. Anyway, the EU had another draft of its constitution up for vote this year. Of the 27 member countries, only one threw the Constitution into a referendum style vote: Ireland.

And now 45% of the 3 million voters of Ireland are rejecting the Constitution. For starters, the people bitching about that being a sizable minority are right but should also shut up. Protesters of the Constitution from all 27 countries have been gathering in Ireland to make themselves heard on this. Ireland was just the only country who decided that the people should have a say on this. I understand that EU has been trying for a Constitution for years, but this one... I don't like it. It takes away the autonomy of the member nations. These are, after all, independent countries with independent peoples. These aren't states like in the US. Each of these is a COUNTRY. Reading over the cliff notes version of the treaty, they won't really be able to call themselves more then member states if this passes. I guess you can argue that if they subject themselves to it it's enough, but do they understand how much they're giving up for the sake of convenience? Clearly some people do: in addition to Ireland's very loud objection, the UK and the Czech Republic have legal objections that they want addressed before voting. And the UK and Ireland have the mother of all loopholes: they can opt in or out on any number of domestic legislative items. But the other nations can't.

Once again, my sourcing is limited to the BBC because they popped up on my news feed and I'm leaving for the airport in an hour to go to a classmate's wedding in lovely VA.

Well, Super Tuesday has come and gone, and what we're left with is rather surprising. Certainly no one expected John McCain to come out on top. There are very few conservatives that I met that would vote for him. Apparently, the Democratic game plan is to paint him as a cronie of G. W. Bush's. How they'll do that, I don't know, but I'm assuming it involves magic, since, although I am no fan of either McCain or Bush, I wouldn't really put them in the same category. And Romney dropped out, which is unfortunate, because that was the "lesser of two evils" I was gonna end up voting for. Oh well. I'll just find myself a Bahamanian island to live on for the next 4-8 years.

Also, the Hollywood Writer's strike is finally nearing it's end, which is good news to those of us who crave TV as a small bit of escapism. Funnily enough, unions came up in political economy the other day, and the question of whether strikes were effective anymore was raised. The only one any of us could think of was the Writer's Strike. Unfortunately, people don't think that picket lines are serious within the union anymore. I don't know but that I can't justify paying a bagger at a grocery store 9 bucks an hour with a 401k, and I don't understand why people are actually threatened with violence for disagreeing (before you say I'm wrong and exaggerating, it's a real example from the grocery worker's strike in San Diego about ten or twelve years ago. I didn't give a damn at the time, I just wanted my stinking Oreos...) It's something that stuck in my head, because I wonder about organized labor every now and again. Starbucks isn't unionized, and while I'd like to get paid more then 7.20 an hour to make your drink, I know it's hard to justify it to anyone who hasn't done the job, and the benefits, had I wanted them, were really good, especially for a part time job. We got that without a union, and I know full well that it was because the unions swept through all industries in the 20's and 30's that the company didn't think twice before laying out a good benefits package. But I wonder, sometimes, if we out grow our secondary institutions, like unions. And I wonder if such speculation is even worth it, because, after all, it's the intellectuals that seem to start the wars. That's what I get for being immersed in the Enlightenment and French Revolution in humanities I guess.

Two other quick notes: This I'm just not sure about. I understand that the modern man likes his deep thought, when at all possible, in the quickest easiest form (just look at network news). But cutting the Sermon on the Mount out of your version of the Bible because there's not enough action? I'm wondering about the wisdom of that....

Other quick note? It's nothing really... I got engaged Friday night.

First things first: in theory, judicial review does not violate the Constitution. The whole point is that the judiciary is calling a law by Congress not just bad, but not a law at all, as it is in violation of the supreme law of the land (read close, and you'll see the caveat: 'laws made in pursuance of the Constitution'). On the theoretical basis, they're simply calling a spade a spade. So there! (I hate theory debates. No one ever gets it)

Second things second: Real ID, that glorious government program that I doubt would have been approved by the people (speaking of Judicial review, I want to see the many and varied cases that could get brought against this particular act...), may not go into effect. At least, not any time soon. Realizing that, no, you cannot get the entire country re-ID'd by the time graduation rolls around, they pushed back the date and lessened the threats. May I just add that state IDs should be left up to the STATE, not the federal government. I admit I'm a bit of a state's rights girl (subsidiarity for the win), but I think even those in favor of a strong national government can see that a state ID, paid for by the state, and issued by the state, should be designed by the state. A national ID already exists: it's called a passport. This whole thing gets my goat because it really affects travel. It's hard enough flying these days without the hassle of having to get a passport for domestic travel. In some ways, this is all a little too "Utopia" for me (Thomas More's Utopia; excellent commentary on the beginning of the end of good government-- wherever it may be)

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and my family plans this year are the kind of insane that only we can cook up. However, before everything gets lost in hustle and bustle, two links and commentary:

First, the just plain interesting. Archaeologists have found the cave of Romulus and Remus. This is cool to me because I spent a semester in Rome, studying and living. Also, I'm Italian, and was born and raised with a very firm grasp that, not only was I Italian, I was a Roman born, going back to time immemorial. The empire, the laws, the history, the glory all lay in my direct bloodline. It's heady stuff, that. To find the cave... well, while the saying may be "if it's not true, it's to the point," finding the sacred place for the first Romans is amazing. I mean, I know Romulus and Remus and their story and Aeneas and his, I've read the Aeneid in Latin for goodness sake. To know that this place of myth and legend and glory and power EXISTS, in time and space, under the ground I walked on, is amazing.

Second, the interesting and politically charged. Scientists say that they can change skin cells into stem cells. This is a boon because, while there have been stem cell alternatives to embryonic stem cells for a while, this is a personalized stem cell, which does away with the threat of rejection. Aside from that, it's amazing that science has progressed to this point. Scary, in fact. As someone who is pro-life in all aspects, I have to praise the work of these scientists for coming up with an alternative that does nothing but create, and hasn't an element of destruction in it. It's sort of exciting. At the same time, it's scary that humans have taken this power into their own hands. It seems god-like: to mutate one cell into another, even if it is through scientific means. It will certainly stir debate, but debate is good. Something with so much potential to improve the quality of life shouldn't come at the price of new life.

And with that, I wish you all (if there are any of you...) a Happy Thanksgiving! Don't get trampled on Black Friday if you venture out, and enjoy your time with your family if you stay in. I'm sure there's football to be watched. ^_^

Link Roundup

Real quick link roundup, mainly on the stuff that's near and dear to my heart:

Update on the status of the California fires, including a map from BBC so you can see where each fire is. FEMA, by the way, is the epitome of fabulous. They faked a news conference on the fires on Tuesday. Gave no notice to the press so they had their employees pose as reporters and give them questions that were, shall we say, less then impressive.

In other, slightly more happy/geeky news, a copy of the Koran sold for 1.1 million pounds sterling (that's about 2.2 million US dollars, give or take...). Why so much? It's from 1203 and written completely in GOLD. Yes, GOLD. Marginalia in silver. It reminds me of a little news item I saw a few weeks ago... when Ross Perot decided it was a good time to sell a little document called the MAGNA CARTA. Isn't that insane? It was the only copy of the Magna Carta in America. And why should we care about some old document that was the first codification of the rights of men against a tyrannical king? Well, aside from the obvious it was the basis of our own constitution.

Speaking of constitution, it's what we're doing this week in state and local. AGAIN. I'm as much in love with the Constitution as the next history geek, but this is the 6th time in 4 years, and it's not like we're going in depth, which would make it worth it...