Archive for June, 2009
Does Israel Truly Want Peace?
11:50 pm, June 15th, 2009 on Israel/Palestine, Middle East
Gideon Levy in the Haaretz thinks not:
…Israel does not want peace. The arsenal of excuses has run out, and the chorus of Israeli rejection already rings hollow. Until recently, it was still possible to accept the Israeli refrain that “there is no partner” for peace and that “the time isn’t right” to deal with our enemies. Today, the new reality before our eyes leaves no room for doubt and the tired refrain that “Israel supports peace” has been left shattered…
The main issues with Netanyahu’s plan seem to be:
Looking for peace? Courtesy, Matthew Yglesias.
…Netanyahu has announced he will back a Palestinian state – but only if it is completely demilitarised.
He said a Palestinian state must have no army, no control of its air space and no way of smuggling in weapons..
…”The Palestinian refugee problem must be resolved outside the borders of the state of Israel. “Any demand to resettle refugees within Israel undermines Israel as a state for the Jewish people.”
…”[Jerusalem] must be the “united capital of Israel”
And…
“The speech made no mention of the evacuation of settlements or the freezing of construction. [Yesha Council Director-General Pinchas Wallerstein] hopes this will allow the continuation of settlement.”
Ahmadinejad Declares Fourth Reich; New Persian Empire Forthcoming
3:04 pm, June 13th, 2009 on Humor, Middle East
Soon after the authorities declared Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the official winner of Iran’s presidential election on Saturday afternoon, the Iranian President announced the creation of the Fourth Reich and his desire to re-establish a new Persian Empire.
Ahmedinejad at the press conference © TopNewsIndia
“Mein Fuhrer Adolf Hitler is my personal hero. He killed 5 million Jews during his Third Reich. I can do better. Israel now has a population of 7 million Jews. I can make Hitler proud by killing them all and ridding this Earth of the Jewish scourge. I hereby declare the establishment of the Fourth Reich with its capital in Shiraz. I hereby declare myself the Fuhrer of Iran,” Ahmadinejad said during a press conference held in Shiraz Saturday evening.
Ahmadinejad alluded to the glories of the Persian Empire by mentioning that it once stretched from Libya in the West to China in the East. “I plan to spread my Reich from ocean to ocean. With the help of the great Iranian peoples, we shall once again rule the world and there shall be no Jewish or Sunni threat to challenge us,” said Ahmadinejad. He went to mention a list of states that had opposed Iran in the past and would face the brunt of his new military might, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the UAE.
More of Rasmussen’s Wacky Polls
1:19 am, June 13th, 2009 on GOP
Scott Rasmussen is a conservative and I’d like to believe that his polls accurately represent public opinion, but some of this statistics are a bit too wacky. His survey from Monday shows:
45% now trust the GOP more to handle economic issues, while 39% trust Democrats more.
On Thursday, he uncovered:
Most voters (53%) believe increases in government spending hurt the economy, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
A day before:
Forty-five percent (45%) of Americans say the rest of the new government spending authorized in the $787-billion economic stimulus plan should now be canceled. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 36% disagree and 20% are not sure.
He’s also got something about:
48% Say New Stimulus Spending Does Not Create Jobs
Right on, Scottie.
RNC’s new Latino Top Dog: A Start
6:54 pm, June 12th, 2009 on GOP
Angela Sailor, the newly controversial RNC Director of Coalitions, announced today that the GOP has hired Manny Rosales as the her Deputy for the Latino community:
I am extremely pleased to announce that Manny Rosales is joining my staff as the new deputy director of coalitions. Manny’s experience in the Hispanic community and his work with small business leaders, veterans and the catholic community will be exceptionally valuable as the RNC works to communicate our party’s principles and expand the Republican Party to more Americans…
It seems Steele may be paying heed to the importance of attracting the Hispanic community to Republican candidates. Mike Murphy in Time highlights the new reality that conservatives face:
In 1980, Latino voters cast about 2% of all votes. Last year it was 9%, and Obama won that Hispanic vote with a crushing 35-point margin. By 2030, the Latino share of the vote is likely to double. In Texas, the crucial buckle for the GOP’s Electoral College belt, the No. 1 name for new male babies — many of whom will vote one day — is Jose. (via The Hill)
What is the GOP doing these days?
The GOP, under the new Chairman Michael Steele, sent out the following e-mail earlier today:
President Obama has wasted little time using the current economic crisis to ram through the Democrat-controlled Congress his liberal, statist agenda.
And what are the Republicans doing about it? Apart from allowing pigs like Limbaugh and Coulter take over the PR department of the party? Read on »
The Perversity of Child Sexual Abuse
12:00 pm, June 11th, 2009 on Miscellaneous
Dana Elaine Owens, aka Queen Latifah, has revealed to the journos that she was abused sexually as a child by a teenage baby sitter. She says:
“He violated me…I never told anybody; I just buried it as deeply as I could and kept people at an arm’s distance.”
When she informed her parents:
“My mother felt terrible… When I told my dad, he said nothing.”
Would you pay for a license to watch TV?
The people of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland pay £142.50, approximately $232 US, annually to their socialist government to be able to watch TV inside their living rooms, TVs that they bought and paid for with their own money, hopefully, even if they only watch cable TV, for which they are paying the usual subscription charges. Amazing!
So, the BBC is my bible, as you can tell from the frequency that it is quoted on this site. And, I was reading an editorial blog post about changes to the BBC website, which removes the old system of selecting your version of the BBC site. You used to be able to select between the international and UK versions, much like what CNN still allows. The news was the same but the order of importance given to the different topics varied in the two versions. Read on »
The Great Persian Farce
2:10 pm, June 10th, 2009 on Middle East
Elections in Iran lead to completely pre-determined and fully orchestrated results in line with the ideology and currently expedient goals of the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and his hard-line, extreme-conservative theocrats. The Parliament, the President and any other elected officers are mere figureheads and puppets in positions created merely to placate the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people. Read on »
Australia out of T20 World Cup!
Cricket lovers of the world rejoice – Australia is finally out of the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup! And it must have been sweet sweet revenge for Sri Lanka too! I love the term used by the BBC:
“dumped”
Yes, the Aussies were kicked out of the Cup in the first round, after their second consecutive defeat. The Windies had previously kicked the crap out of them by 7 wickets. Read on »
WA – Gay Marriage Coming Soon to a Court Near You!
2:58 pm, June 8th, 2009 on Gay Marriage, Washington State
Washington State is one of those states, thankfully, that does not yet allow same sex marriage but provides the option of a “civil union” for same-sex couples wishing to fully legalize their relationship. The state Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that a ban on gay marriage is permitted under the constitution but the legislature can enact law to change that.
Last month, Gregoire signed the “everything-but-marriage” bill, claiming:
“[same-sex partners] will make for stronger families, and when we have stronger families, we have a stronger Washington state”
But, of course! Families with 2 fathers or 2 mothers make stronger families. Marriages that cannot pro-create make even stronger families, correct? I guess Gregoire thinks that what doesn’t kill traditional marriage only makes it stronger, as Kanye would put it.
Concord buys into gay marriage propaganda
12:48 am, June 8th, 2009 on Gay Marriage, New Hampshire
Marriage has been defined for decades, and still is, by the Merriam Webster Dictionary thus:
the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law (emphasis added)
Marriage is a religious institution, that, by definition, is governed by religious laws. Distinct from civil marriage that is performed by a magistrate without any explicit religious sanction, “marriage” is performed in accordance with specifically defined religious traditions and laws. Marriage is defined by every religion as a union between a man and a woman, not man and man or woman and woman or any such other perverse combination. Read on »
Bravo President Obama, Boo Conservatives
1:09 am, June 5th, 2009 on Foreign Policy, Middle East, White House
This is probably the first and last time that the above line appears on this blog. After reading Obama’s speech at the Azhar in Cairo, I am left wondering why President Bush couldn’t have given a similar one during his 8 years. Bush was seen as fighting a war against Islam, despite his earnest protestations, and distrust in the Muslim world and hatred for all things American continued to be exacerbated by perceived American attitudes towards the Middle East, Muslims, Islam and the Palestinian-Israeli problem. Read on »
Obama may have experienced Islam – so what?
5:25 pm, June 3rd, 2009 on White House
The Butcher of Gujarat to be Interviewed After 7 Years?
5:07 pm, June 3rd, 2009 on Human Rights, India
Narendra Modi, the infamous Chief Minister of Gujarat, has had a full 7 years of near complete immunity and full reign over his state in India despite overseeing a near holocaust of Muslims in 2002. With his implicit, and sometimes explicit permission, Hindu nationalists slaughtered, raped and displaced Muslim men, women and children.
Official figures put the death toll at 2000 in total with another 250 missing. Actual numbers must be much higher – probably closer to 10,000. Over 100,000 people, both Hindus and Muslims, were displaced when Modi’s crazed followers destroyed entire neighborhoods and cities. It has even been called a genocide by some in the Indian media. Tehelka has the full report. Read on »
SA’s mess with the Zimbabweans (and others)
11:12 am, June 3rd, 2009 on Africa, Human Rights
Lessons learnt from South Africa’s renowned Truth and Reconciliation Committee are lost among its people.
Zimbabwean refugees escaping from Mugabe are being:
raped and injured, being rejected by hospital staff or charged exorbitant fees. Read on »
Conan is disappointing already
11:53 pm, June 2nd, 2009 on Media
Watching Conan O’Brien on the Tonight Show last night and tonight, I already miss Jay Leno. Conan’s self-centered, egotistical and almost cliched humor that he brings from his late night show just doesn’t appropriate or funny enough as a replacement for Leno. Read on »
GM enters bankruptcy; Wall Street rejoices
6:06 pm, June 2nd, 2009 on Wall Street
Anyone following Wall Street over the past few days must notice that the pending GM bankruptcy had little or no negative effect on the Dow Jones Index, or the S&P.
GM officially entered bankruptcy in the first hour yesterday, and the DJIA just went up, up and up, as evidenced from this screenshot from Google Finance: Read on »
Losing High-Profile Moderate Republicans
The GOP may be set to lose at least 3 high profile Republicans very soon. Obama picked the very moderate NY Congressman John McHugh as Secretary of the Army. The White House claims:
John is committed to keeping America’s Army the best-trained, the best-equipped and the best-led land force the world has ever seen
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- Winnebago Gets Offer 12: 10 am, May 19, 2012Winnebago Industries received a $322 million takeover offer from a private-equity firm that wants to bring foreign car and truck assembly to the recreational vehicles maker. […]
- For Gupta Trial, Tension and Tips 12: 01 am, May 19, 2012Lawyers for former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta say he was estranged from convicted hedge-fund mogul Raj Rajaratnam at the time of some alleged tips. Prosecutors say the friendship broke down much later. […]
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- Dow Swoons for Sixth Day 11: 17 pm, May 18, 2012A day billed as Facebook's coming-out party ended up marking a much gloomier event: the stock market's worst week in six months. […]
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- BBC
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- Sri Lanka marks war anniversary 4: 06 am, May 19, 2012Sri Lanka marks three years since the end of its civil war with a military parade, as critics say more should be done to remember civilian deaths. […]
- Cameron joins talks over eurozone 3: 42 am, May 19, 2012UK PM David Cameron joins other world leaders at the G8 summit for talks set to focus on the eurozone crisis, amid signs a deal is unlikely to be reached. […]
- Seven dissident suspects charged 2: 29 am, May 19, 2012Six men and one woman in Northern Ireland are charged with a series of terrorist offences, including conspiracy to murder and cause explosions. […]
- Quebec in emergency protest law 2: 18 am, May 19, 2012The government of Quebec passes an emergency bill in an effort to quell the most sustained student protests in Canadian history. […]
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- US baby boomers in Hep C warning 2: 02 am, May 19, 2012US baby boomers are advised to get tested for the liver-destroying virus hepatitis C, in a move health officials say could save 120,000 lives. […]
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When Can Bernie Madoff Invest My Money Again?
