World Court Unanimously Rules Texas Execution Violation of International Law

ICJ rules that by not allowing diplomatic review of a Mexican national's pending execution by Mexican officials, the U.S. violated international law. The ICJ's rulings are not binding on the U.S. unless and until Congress passes pending legislation to make them so. The ICJ includes one U.S. judge.

Amazing What Comes to Light After Elections End

It seems the Russia-Georgian conflict was not as clear-cut or black and white as some might have us believe:

President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia has characterized the attack [Tskhinvali, the capital of the breakaway region of South Ossetia] as a precise and defensive act. But according to observations of the monitors, documented Aug. 7 and Aug. 8, Georgian artillery rounds and rockets were falling throughout the city at intervals of 15 to 20 seconds between explosions, and within the first hour of the bombardment at least 48 rounds landed in a civilian area. The monitors have also said they were unable to verify that ethnic Georgian villages were under heavy bombardment that evening, calling to question one of Mr. Saakashvili’s main justifications for the attack.

Eating their Young

From this morning's NY Times:

The earthquake’s destruction of Xinjian Primary School was swift and complete. Hundreds of children were crushed as the floors collapsed in a deluge of falling bricks and concrete .... another local primary school, Beijie, catering to children of the elite, was in such good condition that local officials were using it as a refugee center.

"This is not a natural disaster," said Ren Yongchang, whose 9-year-old son died inside the destroyed school. His hands were covered in plaster dust as he stood beside the rubble, shouting and weeping as he grabbed the exposed steel rebar of a broken concrete column. "This is not good steel. It doesn’t meet standards. They stole our children."

They export toxic toys to the children of the world for profit. Why should we be surprised to find out that they largely fail to protect the least of their own against natural disasters?

Tragically, sometimes it takes a disaster to melt hard hearts and mobilize people to regulate business as usual. That doesn't justify the death of even one innocent child, but it is brutal reality.

And it sounds like China has its own version of the Bush Administration's No Child Left Behind:

Xinjian was poorly built when it opened its doors in 1992 ... and never got its share of government funds for reconstruction because of its low ranking in the local education bureaucracy and the low social status of its students.

The Tour de Torch Reduced to Motorcade

Have the global rifts resulting from China's hosting the Olympics and its suppression of Tibet erased the interweaving purposes of the torch-bearing ritual? The protestors don't look like a splinter or fringe element of anarchists.

And the most hypocritical moment in the Tour de Torch:

Pro-Chinese activists carrying national flags held counter-demonstrations.

“The Olympic Games are about sports. It’s not fair to turn them into politics,” said Gao Yi, a Chinese doctoral student in computer science.