LOST passes Foreign Relations Commitee: We are LOST too.

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 17-4 yesterday to ratify Law of the Sea, a sweeping international agreement acknowledging international sovereignty and responsibility for the welfare of the earth's oceans. The treaty has existed since 1994 but the United States hasn't signed on until now because of pressure from underseas mining interests. The U.S. is the 154th nation to get on board. Surprisingly, support for U.S. ratification was largely bipartisan. Both environmentalists and the Bush administration supported it!

Yeah Moe, we find it hard to believe too.
The details of the Law of the Sea treaty, broad and baroque at the same time, would bore the shit out of readers if we printed them, but here is the hype: Supposedly the treaty would ensure greater international ability for oceanic law enforcement, defense, stewardship, commerce, and industry while at the same time protecting the environment. Impossible? Probably. The Chum Slick was in support of the treaty because the Ocean Conservancy claims the treaty will supposedly make enforcing laws protecting the traffic of endangered wildlife easier, including cracking down on the asshole Shark Fin Mafia.

Don't worry, there are no new laws governing topless piracy.

Still, we are a bit ~~apprehensive~~ scared shitless about treaties that get bipartisan support and are also supported by the Bush administration, big business, and environmentalists. However, it does make us feel better that most of the major Republican 2008 presidential candidates have come out against the Law of the Sea. At least they still have a stake in propping up the charade that the Democratic and Republican parties are not both indeed two like-minded factions of the same political machine whose only real goal is ensuring the survival and continued prosperity of the ruling class.