Lebanon mourns

The BBC reports that yet another moderate politician in Lebanon was assasinated. "At least three gunmen ambushed Mr Gemayel, ramming his car with their vehicle before spraying it with gunfire from point blank range." Unlike the assasination of Former PM Rafik Hariri, this one has no signs of CIA involvement, and was likely carried out by Syrian trained agents or more likely Hezbollah gunmen.

The region has destabilized as a whole, and Lebanon in particular will prove to be a central flashpoint in the months and years ahead. With any luck, the radical islamic elements can be marginalized, with the cooler heads of moderates gaining a solid foothold on the leadership of this volatile place.

Giuliani misunderstands roots of terrorism

Rudolph Giuliani stated today on the 'First in the Nation Forum' in New Hampshire that terrorism is caused by repressive foreign governments that do not give its citizens religious freedom and freedom for women. What a profound misunderstanding of the roots of terrorism he has. Maybe he will continue the failed policies of the 'Bush Doctrine' by allowing radical Islamists to take over further nations in the Muslim world. Remember that once allowed to genuinely participate, Hamas won in a landslide against Fatah in the Palestinian territories. Similarly, Egypt and Pakistan would likely turn fundamentalist would there not be repressive regimes in place there. And this Iraqi 'democracy', mark my words, within 5 years there will likely be an Iranian style Shia theocracy in its place. Wake up and smell reality Giuliani.

Rumsfeld finally gets fired

Donald Rumsfeld, the chief architect of the Iraqi debacle has finally, at long last been fired. His misinterpretation of history (equating the Iraq war to WWII for instance) and misguided perceptions of international realities led this nation to the quicksand situation we are in today. He NEVER should have achieved this much power in the first place, and thousands of people paid the price for his ignorance with their lives.

In his final speech, Rumsfeld attempted to evoke one of the most brilliant speeches in american history, that of Eisenhower in his final remarks as president. However, what Eisenhower was talking about was the dangers of the military industrial complex, that evil enterprise that Rumsfeld is at the center of, not global terrorism. This is a typical tactic of the neocons, to blatantly distort the reality of the situation for short term political gain. Anyone who corrects them is attacked as a terrorist lover. This brutal onslaught of rhetoric and merciless intimidation is nothing short of fascism my friends, pure and simple.

Let us remember that Rumsfeld was one of the central personalities that had close ties to Saddam Hussein in the 80's, meeting with him personally (see the picture above for undeniable proof) and contributing to the conservative thinking that led to our nation selling him massive amounts of weapons. How hypocritical that he then pushed for war with Iraq not many years later. I guess if he had any type of insight or wisdom in the first place, he might have used his influence to try to persuade the other conservatives NOT to sell Hussein weapons. Ignorance + power = danger.

None the less, the damage is done, but at least Rumsfeld is gone. May history judge him as the moron he was.

USA 2006 Elections

The elections are over, and the people have spoken. Prior to Tuesday, 3 straight election wins of Karl Roves fascist tactics had most of the country disillusioned. Finally, people stopped listening to the Republican and conservative attack machine that spews hate instead of constructivity. Finally. Of course, all it took was 3 years bogged down in the Iraqi quagmire by incompetent leadership (King George) and thousands of lives for this to finally sink in.

The final results are that the Democrats seized at least 230/435 seats in the House of Representatives (the most sensitive barometer to the current political climate) and in the biggest victory, wrested control of the Senate from the polarizing Republicans (only 49 senators are democrat, but the 2 independent ones will caucus with the them making a majority of 51 seats/100).

Congratulations to all those who stayed in the game, making sure the Republicans did not steal the close elections again. And a further congratulations to all the 3rd party candidates that stayed in the game to make this a true democracy.

Star Wars?

US adopts tough new space policy



Weapons in space. Though a reality since the first USA and Soviet rockets could reach low orbit and the inception of the dreaded ICBM (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile), the practicality of arming outer space has eluded our financial capacity. Enter: an excellent opportunity to attempt to phase out the archaic struggle to control at the point of a gun. Naive? Why? We have global treaties to phase out nuclear weapons (the Non-Proliferation Treaty) Granted, this has not stopped India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea from aquiring nuclear arms, nor has it resulted in the USA, UK, Russia, China, or France (note the parallel to the Security Members on the UN with permanent seats and a full VETO power) from getting rid of theirs, which were dual intents of the treaty. We have a Chemical Weapons accord (which King George and the neo-cons (ie. ultra conservatives) unilaterally withdrew from). The world has adopted a ban on biological weapons (despite a storehouse in Atlanta, Georgia with some of the deadliest strains).

Perhaps in reality, these dipolmatic treaties don't realize their original intents, but is it wrong to try? Wouldn't the world be a better place if we at least TRY to curb the war hawks who use nationalism, race, or religion as an excuse to slaughter those who disagree with them?

King George just signed a decree stating among other things that the US governement, "rejects any proposals to ban space weapons". The US has the edge in space technology at the moment, and the military industrial complex is determined to push an American empire by dominate in the realm of space as long as it can. This has one innevitable result: a mulinational arming of orbital vessels.

Anyone who has the slightest grasp of the historical progression of nation states understands that the industrial and technological might of the USA is on the decline. It is a temporary advantage (mainly stemming from profiteering during WWII) that will soon (within 5 generations) wane to the likes of China, India, and possibly states in the Middle East. Thus, by pushing our strength of weapons in space at this point, we do nothing but create a historical precedent by which future world superpowers can unapologetically do the same, leading to... you get it, an arms race in space.

Congratulations.

French Take Stand Against Turkish Genocide

The Armenian genocide took place nearly 100 years ago. In the latter stages of WWI, the Ottoman Turks systematically slaughtered 1.5 million nearly helpless Armenians in a vicious campaign of ethnic cleansing that cleared out many millions more from their homeland of a thousand years in eastern Anatolia. Today, the Turkish government continues to deny this holocaust and threaten any nation that uses the term "genocide" in a shallow attempt to avoid responsibility. Note that Hitler was quoted as saying, "Who remembers the Armenian genocide today?" before the Nazi slaughter of Jews in WWII (a mere generation later).

Congratulations to the French, for having the strength of character to stand up to this bullying by passing a law which makes it as much of a crime to deny the Armenian genocide as it is to deny the Jewish genocide. How can the Turks wonder why there is such fierce resistance to let them join the EU when they continue to deny this?

A great independent film on this subject is highly recommended. Ararat (2002)

No one exempt from Republican hate

A year ago when I presented my plan for Iraq, I did it to provide leadership and protect our troops. The Republicans have spent their time name-calling while the situation for our troops in Iraq gets worse.

They've tried to smear me, other veterans, Democrats, you and anybody who stands up to them. Well, let me say one thing right now: screw them. Those gravestones at Arlington cemetery don't say Democrat or Republican on them.

We are all patriots.

But as long as Republicans are in charge, they're just going to keep playing politics instead of doing what needs to be done for the American people. And that's why we need to throw them out of power—as many of them as possible.



Republicans smear? No way, they are too "family-value" oriented to do that. I guess not. Check out the smear photos that have come out on ultra conservative blogs (ie. parasitic propaganda) since Murtha, a longtime defense expert in Congress, went public with the reality of the Iraqi quagmire. He gets instantly demonized by the Republican attack machine.

McCain: Playing politics

As part of a disturbing trend in recent Republican activity, everything is being blamed on Clinton (likening R-FL Foleys young boy perversion with Bills blowjob). Perhaps part of a pre-emptive strike against Hillary, John McCain, the once proud maverick turned neo-con puppet stated in a speech that North Koreas nukes were the fault of Bill Clinton. Instead of dealing with the situation at hand, once again, the conservatives are trying to divert attention away from their failed policies by playing politics for personal gain. McCain, what happened to you? Do you want to be president so badly that you have become a mouthpiece for the very demons you once spoke out against? Have you lost sight of right and wrong to such a degree that you cannot distinguish anymore? What a pity.

Bush lying again

Its tragically comical how short of a memory the average American voter has. King george (or curious george as some call him) continues his rampage of deceipt, this time being exposed for letting the CIA run secret prisons in other countries across the globe. This is just the latest in a long line of his misleading and outright lying to be exposed (among others: weapons of mass destruction, his ties to the greedy oil companies, protecting Karl Roves treason, domestic espionage, etc. etc. etc.).

"So whats so bad about this?" you might ask. For one, its a violation of international law. Second, prisoners are often flown to such third world countries as Egypt and Thailand, where horrific torture is practiced. Where once our higher standards were a source of domestic patriotism and foreign envy, the US is losing its legitimacy in world affairs by secretly condoning such behavior. Third, this policy undercuts the credibility of our allies abroad, making them appear to their constituents as mere puppets of a fascist regime.

How long will we continue to tolerate this deceipt, these blatant and obvious lies of a pseudo dictator within our midst? It is the responsibility of good men everywhere to stand against evil. Next time some idiot starts regurgitating Republican "talking points", remind them of how nearly every major thing King George has ever stated has turned out to be untrue. This man and his party must go.

Crocodile Hunter Dead

Steve Irwin, the champion of wildlife across the planet, best known at the Crocodile Hunter, was killed today. While working on a documentary about the Great Barrier Reef, an encounter with a stingray left him dead.

Despite his cheesy appeal to the youngest of audiences, his devotion to our natural world was monumental in steering public opinion towards a deeper understanding of our planet as a whole. Steve, your work was appreciated and you will be missed.