The war in Spain

Being here in Spain the last few days has allowed me to get a little window on how the war(s) is/are looking from outside the U.S. The news here has been full of the story of two young soldiers who died in Afghanistan, and there was a protest today in Seville against the wars.

Speaking of wars, I´m noticing that everyone from protestors to the national press (what I´ve seen of it) seems to tie Iraq and Afghanistan far more tightly than in the U.S. At home, the public is decidedly gloomy about the Iraq war, while Afghanistan is more or less invisible. Even so, I would imagine — and when I´m not at an Internet cafe on my vacation I´ll probably look this up to verify — that if you polled Americans today, you´d still get a solid 70% in favor of staying in Afghanistan.

The rhetoric I´m hearing in Spain doesn´t support that. Of course, I don´t know enough about Spanish politics to make any sort of educated guesses about how much domestic exasperation is being taken out on the president (a la ¨Why are you letting Bush push you around?¨)

Also, I asked the young woman handing out flyers at the demonstration if the group was a religious one and she looked at me like I had two heads. There´s a data point in favor of Europe as much more secular than the U.S. (I did explain to her that in my country, groups protesting the war are often doing it in part because of religious beliefs. Just so she wouldn´t think my question was coming out of thin air.)

Never prouder

This afternoon, President Bollinger gave a speech that can only be called rousing and inspirational. Watch it here: part 1, part 2 (it’s unfortunate that the video doesn’t capture the response of the several thousand students who were watching out on the lawn; needless to say the atmosphere was electric).

Interestingly enough, just two hours later, Prezbo — miraculously — showed up to teach POLS 3285 Freedom of Speech & Press to thunderous applause. It was a good day to be in his class.

Today was a glorious affirmation of of the values my university and nation espouse, and I’ve never been prouder to be a part of both.

A sampling of the pictures I took throughout the day after the jump

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Tomorrow should be interesting

Seen just now while walking to the library:

Bwog coverage here, for those who don’t know what’s going on.

All hail Montana!

From The Missoulian:

The State Bar of Montana passed a resolution on Friday urging President George W. Bush and Congress to close the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay and restore prisoners’ right to due process.

The resolution received overwhelming support from Montana’s legal community….

[...] “This is not a political statement, but a statement about the rule of law,” said [Jim] Taylor [who drafted the resolution]. “I never thought I would be standing in front of a group of lawyers talking about whether or not it’s appropriate for someone to have a trial. But that’s where we are today.”

Under the “rule of law,” the government must exercise its authority in accordance with publicly disclosed, written laws.

For my money, it’s long past time we saw professional associations standing up for the standards of their professions. I’m thrilled to see Montana taking this step and will encourage my state’s lawyers to do the same.

Now, if only the American Psychological Association would face up to its responsibilities in the same way.

Well, as long as I’m writing about art

I don’t know word one about plein air painting (except that it’s not spelled as an American would spell it). But this guy seems to have a familiar look to him. And the paintings aren’t bad either.