C-Objectively

Animation demonstrating the empires that wielded influence over the Middle East throughout history.

The title is sort of a joke since watching a 90 second flash animation (well, at the very least this specific flashimation!) will not teach you about the actual history of the Middle East. What it does do pretty well though is give you a rough idea of how many different groups of people have controlled or had lots of influence on the area and its people. Then, while keeping in mind the kind of complex cultural situation this kind of history would give rise to, take a moment to examine the ridiculously simplistic and “black or white” approach many people in politics and the media use to try to characterize this area and its people with.

Although the topic of the Middle East is, well, very topical (when has it not been in the last umpteenth years?), another cool thing you can see in this animation is what’s happening to Armenia throughout this same time period: about 2500 B.C. to 2000 A.D.

You’ll notice that Armenia and the Armenian people, who primarily lived in the area marked in the animation as the Hittite Empire (some argue this was an Armenian society, different story) are pretty much on the edges of most of the empires that came to rule over it. What this meant for us was that we had the wonderful opportunity to be the battlegrounds for superpowers at war at the outskirts of their empires, trying to extend the reaches of their influence. I don’t think I need to explain how being the area where eastern (Persian mostly), western, and Arabic powers fought for influence might have left the people there a bit weary.

On the other hand, what is pretty cool and interesting is that throughout this time, and to a lesser degree after the takeover of the Ottoman Turks, the Armenians did two things which most others who fell under these powers didn’t:

1. Armenians remained Christian. This despite being ruled by lots of people who were *not* Christian. This wasn’t easy and the trouble started when the Armenian king Trdat declared Christianity to be the “state” religion of Armenians before any other, in 301 or 314 A.D. depending on who you ask.
2. Armenians typically retained high levels of autonomy even though throughout much of this time period they were “under” the hand of another king or ruler. Ultimately most “emperors” found that it was much easier and more beneficial to them to sort of leave the Armenians to themselves and not try to interfere too much. It should be noted however that Armenians had their independence from these empires, and dynasties of their own, for hundreds of years at a time. With the exception of about a hundred years however under Tigran the Great, Armenian power never really extended beyond their own people; which is why you never see the Armenian Empire anywhere in the flash animation.

Well, now that I turned a simple animation about the Middle East into a lesson on Armenian history, I think my crazy rambling is done. And thanks to Professor Astourian at Berkeley for making sure that none of this stuff was really new to me.

If you have about an hour to spare, take a look at this stunning expos� by the folks at Rolling Stone. It will make you sad and a little afraid at how tangled up policing and politics can become and do become on a regular basis. The fact that known murderers go loose in order to save some police supervisor’s career is shocking. Here is a clip:

Those who arrived as spectators at the federal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles on July 6th expecting to observe the fourth day of testimony in the Notorious B.I.G. wrongful-death suit swiftly discovered that they were on hand to bear witness to something else: history. In an announcement that stunned everyone who had been following the case in the media, presiding judge Florence-Marie Cooper abruptly suspended the proceedings and called a mistrial. Only a handful in the courtroom knew of the remarkable events of the previous days: an anonymous late-night phone tip; the extraordinary lockdown of a Los Angeles Police Department division; a stash of secret, incriminating documents. But the following day, Judge Cooper issued a written ruling stating that she had come to believe the LAPD had deliberately concealed a massive amount of evidence that attested to the involvement of rogue officers in the rapper’s slaying.

The article tells us that if Rosetta Wallace’s civil suit against the City of Los Angeles and the LAPD is successful, that it will probably bankrupt the department and the city. I’m not sure what kind of havoc or state/federal bailout that will cause but I hope that there will be serious consequences to every person involved up the chain of command so that incidents like this don’t repeat themselves in the future; not in LA nor elsewhere.

Rolling Stone : The Unsolved Mystery of the Notorious B.I.G

If you don’t know what “eminent domain” refers to, please see here. Essentially its the idea that government entities can take your property from you to use it for the public good or to clean it up if you are turning it into a slum. And they reimburse you an amount considered fair to be, well, fair.

The problem is that more and more often, local governments are using the power of eminent domain to take over properties, both commercial and residential, for the purposes of incoming commercial development in the city. These developments are backed by large development companies whose job it is to go around building giant shopping malls, theatres, and wherever else people like to blow their money these days. There was a question of whether or not these kinds of developments, which were in essence being planned and funded by private parties with the intention of making them money, were valid “public good” reasons to invoke the power of eminent domain.

Well that question was answered a few days ago with a ruling by the Supreme Court. They ruled, 5-4, that it would be up to local governments and municipalities to decide what the “public good” was, whether it meant finishing a road the city needed or building a new Super Wal-Mart. (more…)

The Iraqometer

Keep track of all the vital stats on the war in Iraq including, cost per taxpayer which stands at $1300 now.

So apparently my brain took a break while I was writing my last post. I asked you to read an article to which I had not provided the link for. Here is the link to the Bombardier Beetle article.

I just read another very interesting article. It talks about voting theory and how the plurality method of voting that we use here in the US is the one that is most succeptible to paradoxical outcomes in which the intent of the majority of the voters does not agree with the results of the election. Quite impressive evidence that our voting system should be tweaked. For example one of the voting methods involves ranking all the candidates in order of preference. However I have a bone to pick with this system. In essence you are required to cast votes even for the candidates you may despise. There is also the caveat that a voter needs to be much more involved with the candidates and their stances on issues before they can correctly rank them all. Anyway its an intriguing issue that I think definitely deserves more attention than it receives.

Just a side note, I am the new webmaster for the ASA here at Cal and I’ve revived our web page, you can check it out here.

Economists at the Foundation have tracked Tax Freedom Day for the last 25 years. This is the day on which you’ve worked enough to pay all of your taxes and you can start spending money on yourself.

Tax Freedom Day has been celebrated later and later since Americans began paying federal income taxes in 1913. Back then, Tax Freedom Day fell on January 30. In 2000, the average American income earner worked 50 days to pay individual income tax, 30 days to pay social insurance taxes, 16 days to pay sales taxes, 10 days to pay property taxes, 12 days to pay corporate income taxes, three days to pay business taxes and two days to pay all other taxes.

Here’s an interesting quote that I like…”There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary to public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute or common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back.” - Robert Heinlein’s Life-Line

Cal is ranked #21 in Men’s Basketball YEAH! Finally they rank us!