The assault weapons ban: A case study in the politics of frivolity

Once again, our lawmakers cloak unpassable legislation in base-pleasing rhetoric

The Senate Judiciary Committee last week approved a measure that would reinstitute the assault weapons ban. Big news, right? The bill will now head to the entire Senate for a vote... unless of course Republicans filibuster... but nevertheless, this is big, right?

Wrong.

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The New York Times story detailing the measure's passage described the bill as "almost certain to fail if brought before the entire Senate." It "has almost zero chance of even receiving a hearing in the House." Nor should it be since all available evidence suggests that an assault weapons ban would have a negligible impact on safety. Of course, that point is one of substance, and nothing about the debate over the proposed AWB has anything to do with whether it will or will not work. Everything about the proposed renewal of the AWB is theatrics and serves as yet another example of the triumph of style at the expense of substance in our national politics.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is a very bright woman and a very good politician. When she proposed the new AWB, she knew there was a zero percent chance that it would become law. But she also knew that the people who voted for her are, by and large, anti-gun. More importantly, as the author of the original Brady Bill, Sen. Feinstein is widely viewed as the darling of the anti-gun movement and its allies. By proposing the AWB, Sen. Feinstein can tell all of the donors who care about the gun issue that she fought for the most aggressive legislation possible, and that she will keep fighting — which will lead to more donations.

SEE MORE: 10 things you need to know today: March 17, 2013

Feinstein is not the only senator loving every second of coverage of the Senate's consideration of a bill that will literally never even get a vote in the House of Representatives. The most vocal members of the right are also loving it. Take Ted Cruz, for example. By now, you have probably seen the"heated" exchange between Feinstein and the fiery junior senator from Texas, in which Cruz lectures Feinstein about the Second Amendment and Feinstein snaps back that she is not a sixth grader. Well, that was gold, for both of the senators. Cruz is basically just the opposite of Feinstein in that he was elected and funded by people who love firearms and hate the Assault Weapons Ban with a visceral passion. So every time that clip of the two senators played on television, the people who donated (or might now donate) to Cruz's campaign to fight for guns cheered him for taking on the California liberal who they believe intends to eliminate all of their Constitutional rights. Feinstein's supporters applauded her for standing up to the gun-toting punk from Texas who does not care about the victims of Newtown or about the safety of Americans.

So everyone wins, right? Wrong.

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The biggest loser is the American people. Political symbolism has value, but there are too many problems that Congress might actually have the capacity to solve for our leaders to be spending all of their time focused on proposals both sides know will never make it to the president's desk. That applies to House Republicans (stop repealing ObamaCare, it's a waste of time) and Senate Democrats (stop wasting time on gun control measures you know will not pass). Our leaders must get out of the habit of wasting taxpayer resources drafting, amending, debating, and voting on legislation that has no chance of becoming law. Solve the problems you can, and save the individual wish lists for public speeches and your Maddow/Hannity appearances.

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European women marry, give hope to Samaritans

Syria opposition to set up interim government

Associated Press/Aleppo Media Center, AMC - In this citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, anti-Syrian regime protesters raise up their hands as they wave Syrian revolutionary flags during a protest to mark the second anniversary of the their uprising, in Aleppo, Syria, Friday March 15, 2013. The chief of Syria's main, western-backed rebel group marked the second anniversary of the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad on Friday by pledging to fight until the "criminal" regime is gone. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center, AMC)

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's main opposition group is launching its most serious attempt yet to form a rival government to President Bashar Assad's regime, convening in Turkey on Monday to choose an interim prime minister for areas the rebels control.

Twelve candidates are running, including economists, businessmen and a former Syrian Cabinet minister.

Some warn setting up such a government could close the door to negotiating an end to Syria's civil war and instead harden the battle lines even more.

Another obstacle is asserting the authority of a government picked by the largely exile-based opposition, especially in areas where Islamic extremist militias dominate.

The opposition Syrian National Coalition needs to take the reins in increasingly chaotic rebel-held areas where many services have broken down, but doing so means taking a political risk, said University of Oklahoma professor Joshua Landis.

"Obviously (the opposition) has been very frightened of trying, because it does not have a real social base on the ground, and it is worried that if it fails, it will get egg on its face," said Landis, who runs a blog called Syria Comment.

The deadlocked Syria conflict, which has claimed 70,000 lives and displaced about 4 million people, entered its third year this weekend.

Leading members of the coalition are meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, on Monday and Tuesday to pick a prime minister who would put together the interim government, said coalition spokesman Khalid Saleh. A vote is expected by Tuesday, he said.

Twelve candidates have been nominated, though the list could shrink if not all accept their nominations, Saleh said. The coalition released 10 names on Sunday but is not publishing the names of two contenders who live in areas under government control, he said.

Among the candidates are Osama Kadi, the coalition's economic adviser from London, Ontario in Canada; Ghassan Hitto, a longtime IT manager who recently moved from Dallas, Texas to Turkey;Assad Asheq Mustafa, a former Syrian agriculture minister and former governor of Syria's central Hama province, and Walid al-Zoabi, a real estate entrepreneur from Dubai.

Saleh described the candidates as technocrats. "Each has a minimum of 15 to 20 years of experience in his field," he said.

The 72 members of the coalition's general assembly are eligible to vote. If no candidate gets at least 37 votes in the first round, the top two would compete in a second round, Saleh said.

The Syrian government has portrayed those trying to topple it as foreign-led terrorists. The conflict erupted in 2011, initially as a largely peaceful uprising that, in the face of a harsh regime crackdown, turned into an armed insurgency and then into civil war.

Issam Khalil, a legislator from Assad's ruling Baath Party, echoed the regime's position that the opposition is pursuing foreign interests and is trying to "implode Syria from the inside." Those meeting in Istanbul want to intensify the conflict in Syria, not end it, he said Sunday.

The U.S. has been cool to the idea of a rival government in the rebel-held areas, saying the focus should be on a political transition.

Under a plan endorsed by the international community last year, Assad supporters and opponents would propose representatives for a transition government, with each side able to veto candidates. However, the plan did not address the key question of Assad's role.

Most in the Syrian opposition rule out negotiations with Assad, even on the terms of his departure from office.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry affirmed his support for the plan, saying that only a transitional government accepted by both the opposition and the Assad government can allow Syrians to determine their future.

The leader of the Syrian opposition coalition, Mouaz al-Khatib, has also suggested he opposes the formation of a rival Syrian government, saying he feared it would deepen divisions in Syria.

Breaking with opposition consensus, the 52-year-old former preacher provoked a backlash last month when he offered to hold talks with members of the regime if it would help end the bloodshed.

The formation of the interim government was put off twice over such disagreements, but Saleh said coalition members voted last month to go ahead with the election. Al-Khatib, while still opposed, is deferring to the majority, Saleh said.

Analyst Fawaz A. Gerges said that the move is likely to block a political solution.

"By electing an interim Cabinet, the Syrian opposition will put an end to any possibility for a negotiated settlement with the Syrian regime," said Gerges, director of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics. "They've decided to fight all the way."

With an interim government in place, the "war option would win over diplomacy," Gerges said.

It's not clear where an interim government would be able to operate.

The regime routinely attacks rebel strongholds with airstrikes and artillery, and any gathering of senior opposition politicians would be a prime target. More likely, government members would shuttle between Turkey and Syria, as some rebel military chiefs do.

Acceptance is another challenge.

In recent months, Islamic extremist militias, particularly the al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra, have asserted dominance in key battle areas.

Al-Nusra and other Islamic extremist fighting groups don't recognize the authority of the Free Syrian Army and might not be inclined to take orders from an interim government.

Saleh played that down, saying that 85 percent of the fighting forces recognize the Syrian National Coalition. Once the government moves into Syria and starts providing services, "doubts will just vanish," he said.

Landis predicted that the interim government would face a rough start. Trying to assert authority "is a recipe for conflict, no doubt about it," he said, "but they've got to get down to the towns and offer a real alternative."

___

Associated Press writers Barbara Surk in Beirut and Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, contributed.

Greek youngster Katidis banned for life from national team for Nazi-style salute

Giorgios Katidis has been banned for life from the Greek national team set-up over the Nazi-style salute he gave in celebration after scoring the winner in AEK Athens' 2-1 victory over Veria on Saturday. The Greek FA announced the decision on its website Sunday, condemning the player's actions.

By Aradhana Aravindan and Nandita Bose

(Reuters) - Women who drink, long portrayed as less than respectable by Bollywood movies and still wary of entering most watering holes, are becoming big business in socially conservative India.

Makers of alcoholic beverages, including global No.1 Diageo , are taking notice of this small segment of India's $10 billion drinks industry that is growing more than twice as fast as the overall sector and presents a significant, if delicate, market opportunity.

With more women in the organised workforce, gaining financial independence and interacting with their male counterparts in social and professional settings, the idea of them drinking is slowly gaining acceptance.

"As recently as in my mother's generation it was frowned upon, and it is now perfectly acceptable to have a glass of champagne or white wine," said Rajeev Samant, founder and chief executive of Sula Vineyards, the largest domestic wine maker.

Two years ago Sula launched Dia, a light, slightly sparkling wine aimed at female drinkers that comes in a slender bottle with pastel-coloured labelling and has a lower alcohol content. The company is adding more low-alcohol options and expects women to account for roughly one-third of sales this year.

COCKTAIL CULTURE

French drinks group Remy Cointreau, whose Cointreau is an ingredient in a Cosmopolitan, the signature cocktail of the TV show "Sex and the City", launched the orange liqueur in India three years ago to tap the burgeoning women's market.

"There is a rise in the cocktail culture and a significant part of that is because of women," said Rajesh Grover, marketing manager for the Indian subcontinent at Remy Cointreau, which holds promotional events that offer steeper discounts to women wearing higher heels.

Still, despite boasting the world's largest whiskey market, Indians are overall among the world's lowest consumers of alcohol. Only 30 percent of men and 3 percent of women have at least one drink a year, according to the India Centre for Alcohol Studies (INCAS), a government research body.

By comparison, 60 percent of women in the United States drink at least once a year, according to another study.

The women's market in India is expected to grow 25 percent over the next five years, faster than the 10 percent rise projected for the overall industry, INCAS said.

Rising incomes and changing social habits give India the growth potential that recently prompted British-based Diageo to enter a deal to buy a controlling stake in United Spirits Ltd , India's biggest alcohol maker.

France's Pernod Ricard SA last year signed a bottling agreement with Tilaknagar Industries and is in talks with the Indian company for a strategic partnership. India's No.2 spirits company, Radico Khaitan Ltd, has held talks with international players about a joint venture after its partnership with Diageo ended last year.

WORST PLACE TO BE A WOMAN

At The Big Nasty, in the Khar suburb of Mumbai, the lights are dim, hip-hop music pounds and a popular song raises a loud cheer. It's Thursday night, and a table of 20-something women have left their boyfriends and husbands behind to party together.

"We girls normally hang out once a week at some joint or the other. For us, it's a stress-buster," said Preciosa D'costa, a 29-year-old advertising executive. But she also has friends who are more guarded about their drinking.

"I know people until today who are hesitant, guys for that matter, who are hesitant to go home (after drinking)."

Despite its rapid modernisation, India remains deeply traditional. Even in cities, most women choose to marry a partner selected by their parents. Incidents of thugs beating up women at pubs are not unheard of.

The New Delhi gang rape and killing of a young physiotherapy student who was out with a male friend provoked outrage about attitudes towards women in India, which was found to be the worst place to be a woman among the world's biggest economies in a Thomson Reuters Foundation poll.

Bars in India are typically male-only bastions. Women who drink in public would typically do so in high-end restaurants or bars in upscale sections of cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore. The trend is seen spreading to smaller cities, albeit cautiously.

"Your marketing programme has to take into account the city's sensitivities," said Sharda Agarwal, a director at Mumbai-based MarketGate Consulting.

A ban on alcohol and cigarette advertising forces makers of alcoholic beverages to be creative, using their brands on water, soda and even music CDs. Many sponsor fashion shows and music festivals, while some have hired Bollywood stars for related promotions.

Jack Daniel's maker Brown-Forman said that while it does not target women exclusively with its Finlandia vodka, it often serves it in cocktails at fashion show after-parties.

India's burgeoning retail revolution, which has seen supermarket chains sprouting up in major cities, has also made alcohol more available to women.

Before supermarkets, a woman wanting to buy alcohol for home consumption would have to brave the stares or comments from men, not always sober, jostling in line at liquor stores.

"It's more accessible for a woman to drink, it's more accessible to buy. When she is doing her grocery shopping she can go ahead and buy alcohol," said Sunitha Barlota, an analyst with Euromonitor.

TURNING EXPERIMENTAL

While vodka and ready-to-drink beverages such as Bacardi Breezers are still among the most popular choices for Indian women, they are increasingly turning experimental, according to research firm Mintel.

"India and whiskey are joined at the hip. But women and single malts aren't too far either," said Gaurav Bhatia, marketing director at Moet Hennessy India, a part of French luxury group LVMH.

Diageo says its Scotch brand Johnnie Walker Platinum and single malt Singleton are increasingly popular with women.

"Their rising affluence, aspirations and exposure to different lifestyles appears to be driving this desire to have newer experiences and that includes experimenting with alcohol," Zanita Kajiji, Diageo India's marketing and innovation director, told Reuters.

Back at The Big Nasty, 24-year-old Nisha Khetani, who works in the merchandising department of a retail chain, was on a second round of vodka shots with two female colleagues.