Reason's Weekly Dispatch
By Jeff A. Taylor and the
Reason staff
May 24, 2005
Vol. 8 No. 20
In this
issue:
1. Opium for the Masses
2. Stem Cells Across the Globe
3. German Surprise
4. Quick Hits
5. New at Reason Online -
Deadwood Democrats Ride Again
6. News and
Events
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has made it as clear as he can: If the U.S. and Western nations want him to put a dent in poppy fields, it is going to cost some upfront money. Opium remains a key cash crop for many Afghan regions and, more importantly, keeps local power brokers funded. Karzai has to replace that with something, or he goes back to being the well-dressed mayor of Kabul.
The State Department cannot be so out of touch to really think that all the Karzai government needs is more backbone, or "leadership," to use the phrase of a leaked State Department memo, to step up poppy eradication. It is going to take lots of Uncle Sam's cash to even get the process started. In fact, it is somewhat mind-boggling that the U.S. embassy would even focus on this issue given just how difficult it will be to turn Afghanistan away from poppy production. Why draw attention to it?
This suggests that someone in the State Department wanted to embarrass Karzai on the eve of his trip to Washington. If so, this relationship must have a few hidden issues to work out.
Reason Express is made possible by a grant from The DBT Group, manufacturers of affordable, high-performance mainframe systems and productivity software.
2. Stem Cells Across the Globe
Whatever else is going on at a lab in Seoul with human stem cell research, it should be fairly clear that the U.S. has nothing like a monopoly on this technology. The 21st century will see great advances in biotech, and the U.S. will not dictate what those advances will be.
The federal government may opt to ban, restrict, or refrain from funding research involving human somatic cell nuclear transfer, but labs elsewhere in the world will pay no heed political dust-ups in Washington. To pretend otherwise is madness.
Then there is the fact that the research at Seoul National University seems to be classic case of a very small operation outside the mainstream doing things just a little bit differently based on lots of experience. For example, actual chemical manipulation of the genetic material is kept to a minimum and even the extraction of genetic material is as "natural" as possible. Should it turn out that advances in this area of research turn on the imagination and drive of a few individuals, top-down controls on biotech will be even harder to institute and maintain.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1064420,00.html
Speak a foreign language? Speak it better!
Improve your language skills with Champs-Elysees monthly audio magazines for intermediate-to-advanced speakers of French, German, Italian and Spanish.
Visit the Champs-Elysées website to find out more .
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder must be wondering what he did to make his party lose North Rhine-Westphalia for the first time in 40 years, forcing a round of early national elections. Voters held Schroeder and his party personally responsible for high unemployment that is, in fact, a structural problem with the German economy.
Schroeder has tried to nudge the country toward a more market-oriented and responsive way of doing business, but economic growth remains anemic, and jobs are not being created. The simple fact remains that Germany's workforce is often too expensive to hire.
The question now is whether Schroeder drifts back toward the left, which would certainly be the easier route, or doubles down and insists that a fundamental overhaul of the generous German welfare state is needed. We should know in a few weeks.
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/afx/2005/05/23/afx2047243.html
Quote of the Week
"What's the end point? When do you declare victory?" -- Capt. Vincent Tuohey, one of several junior officers in the oft-deployed 1st Cavalry Division thinking long and hard about leaving the Army when their commitments end.
http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news2/latimes643.html
Plame Out
Has the Valerie Plame case morphed into a perjury or obstruction of justice case involving a high-ranking Bush administration official? The circumstances suggest it has.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20050520.html
Terror Behind Bars
The Bureau of Prisons plans on suspending various rules for federal prisons in the event of terrorist attack or other national emergency.
http://cryptome.org/bop052005.txt
Life, Liberty, and a Really Fast Internet Connection
Residents of rural America demand their God-given freedom from dial-up connections.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/22/AR2005052200765.html
Buy Reason T-shirts and coffee mugs!
Click here for the latest on media appearances by Reason writers.
Want even more Reason? Sign up for Reason Alert to get regular news from Reason Magazine and Reason Public Policy Instiute, as well as advance notice about media appearances and events.
We encourage you to forward Reason Express. If you received this issue from a forward, please subscribe. It's Free!
Back Issues