The Americans are so desperate about their mounting disastrous combat attrition in Iraq that, apart from sending paratroopers to Iraq to beef up their weakening military situation (but on the pretext that they’ll be there to guard prisons – paratroopers guard prisons? Surgical scalpel to chop firewood?), they have abandoned their vows of implementing American style secular democracy in Iraq.
Furthermore, the Republican Party is looking nervously at next year's Congressional elections. They may be decimated with the current growing anti-war movement galvanised by Cindy Sheehan, a mother of a young soldier slain in Iraq.
Hey, what happened to the Bush Administration's promise to make Iraq an 'island of freedom and democracy' in the region?
They want the Iraqi constitution in place and then hand over the whole sorry mess back to the Iraqis. As one American said, the US will be more than happy to hand over to another ‘Saddam Hussein’ and his torture and executions, and f*** the Iraqi people and democracy.
But we have blogged here on several posts why the various ethnic groups cannot agree on the constitution. The main problem is federalism, making the new Iraq a federation of many autonomous states, each with their own private army. The Sunnis and the al Sadr Shiite faction do not want federalism while the pro-American Kurds and the majority of Shiites (egged on by the American henchman Ahmad Chalabi) are pushing for autonomy and also federalism.
The fact is federalism has been an American devious strategy to continue to control Iraq’s oil fields in its northern Kurd-dominated and southern Chalabi’s faction controlled regions. Federalism of course makes it easier for the two provinces to break off into independent nations, which will be a dream, make that two dreams, come true for the Americans.
In fact the Kurds have gone as far as to demand that the new constitution embrace their rights to self determination in 8 years – by another name that’s secession or independence.
But the US domestic front looks perilous for the Republican Party, and the Bush Administration is abandoning what has been bullsh*t in the first place, their claim of regime change of a secular dictatorship into a secular democracy.
A couple of days ago, a Kurdish negotiator on the new constitution said the US twisted Kurdish arms to drop the demand for self determination or secession. Well, at least for the time being. The Americans don't want the constitution delayed or rejected again.
But that doesn’t mean the Sunnis would accept just that – they want the word federalism dropped completely.
Then, the Americans did the unexpected and the inevitable. Unexpected inevitability – hmmm, I wonder whether that qualifies as an oxymoron. They instructed the Kurds to accept the demands of the Shiites and Sunnis on the role of Islam in the new constitution. Oh, oh, oh, the Americans really badly want the constitution in place.
So the new constitution will be an Islamic one, making the New Iraq a theocratic state. The biggest losers will be the Iraqi women, deprived of the equal rights, fair inheritance system and representation in Parliament they had actually enjoyed under Saddam Hussein. They have the USA to thank for their lowered status. Bush and his neo-cons have sold them down the river.
The American 'island of democracy and freedom' has sunk!
“Abandon ship”, or should it be “Abandon hope all ye who enter the new Iraq”?
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Bloody Execution, Bloody Liar, Blood Money
This prominent man has been publicly accused of being a liar. The man?
London Metropolitan Police Chief Sir Ian Blair.
The cousin of police-victim Jean Charles de Menezes has accused Ian Blair of telling lies. He wants Blair to resign. Newspapers around the world have screamed in their headlines "London Police Chief Sir Ian Blair is a Bloody Liar."
Ian Blair must be responsible for the litany of British police lies about the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes since he sprouted them. He had also attempted to cancel and, failing that, delay the independent inquiry. In the latter case he succeeded with 6 crucial days, possibly causing vital evidence to "disappear".
Without the conscience of an inquiry whistleblower, the disgraceful affair might have been concealed in typical British Hutton-ized fashion. The police chief's unbelievable and questionable conduct over the execution of an innocent man has so provoked the Brazilian government that they have send a team of official investigators including two judges to London to meet directly with the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
The Brazilians could no longer trust the British Police to come up with anything truthful. They have been pretty p*ssed off with the British government keeping them in the dark on the murder of one of its citizens.
de Menezes’ cousin accuses the British police of murder. He wants those responsible to be prosecuted. Asad Rehman, from the Justice4Jean campaign, added that Ian Blair's integrity had been called into question by the whole sordid affair. He added that Blair was no longer capable of being responsible for his force.
The lawyers for the de Menezes family fear that though the IPCC inquiry would take only 6 weeks, the British government could hold back public release of the report deliberately for years and perhaps publish it sometimes in 2008.
The Head of the IPCC inquiry has told them that he can’t release the report which would have to go to the coroner and then the Crown Prosecution Service and cannot be published until a decision has been taken on an inquest. This is the part where the British government can sit on it indefinitely.
de Menezes family in Brazil has rejected the US$1 million compensation, declaring that it was blood money to buy their silence over the murder of their son Jean Charles.
But Ian Blair rejected the resignation calls, and instead now attempted to divert public attention back to the London bombings by suggesting a possible link between the July 7 and July 21 attacks. He did this despite evidence to the contrary, that there has been Hutton Inquiry whitewash of the “sex-up” bullsh*t about Saddam’s 45 minutes capability to destroy Britain.
The blatant whitewash has become such a cynical joke that people now uses the term “Hutton-ize” or “Hutton-ization” to imply official whitewashing.
And across the Atlantic, as an example of big power arrogance, we have seen how a Nazi-like US soldier has been allowed to get away scot-free by a military court after he had tortured and murdered two Afghans at the US Bagram Air Base. It's another American My Lai whitewash disgrace all over again.
Note: I have 'repaired' the last few paragraphs which suffered from coherence due to missing sentences, though I had published them early this morning.
London Metropolitan Police Chief Sir Ian Blair.
The cousin of police-victim Jean Charles de Menezes has accused Ian Blair of telling lies. He wants Blair to resign. Newspapers around the world have screamed in their headlines "London Police Chief Sir Ian Blair is a Bloody Liar."
Ian Blair must be responsible for the litany of British police lies about the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes since he sprouted them. He had also attempted to cancel and, failing that, delay the independent inquiry. In the latter case he succeeded with 6 crucial days, possibly causing vital evidence to "disappear".
Without the conscience of an inquiry whistleblower, the disgraceful affair might have been concealed in typical British Hutton-ized fashion. The police chief's unbelievable and questionable conduct over the execution of an innocent man has so provoked the Brazilian government that they have send a team of official investigators including two judges to London to meet directly with the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
The Brazilians could no longer trust the British Police to come up with anything truthful. They have been pretty p*ssed off with the British government keeping them in the dark on the murder of one of its citizens.
de Menezes’ cousin accuses the British police of murder. He wants those responsible to be prosecuted. Asad Rehman, from the Justice4Jean campaign, added that Ian Blair's integrity had been called into question by the whole sordid affair. He added that Blair was no longer capable of being responsible for his force.
The lawyers for the de Menezes family fear that though the IPCC inquiry would take only 6 weeks, the British government could hold back public release of the report deliberately for years and perhaps publish it sometimes in 2008.
The Head of the IPCC inquiry has told them that he can’t release the report which would have to go to the coroner and then the Crown Prosecution Service and cannot be published until a decision has been taken on an inquest. This is the part where the British government can sit on it indefinitely.
de Menezes family in Brazil has rejected the US$1 million compensation, declaring that it was blood money to buy their silence over the murder of their son Jean Charles.
But Ian Blair rejected the resignation calls, and instead now attempted to divert public attention back to the London bombings by suggesting a possible link between the July 7 and July 21 attacks. He did this despite evidence to the contrary, that there has been Hutton Inquiry whitewash of the “sex-up” bullsh*t about Saddam’s 45 minutes capability to destroy Britain.
The blatant whitewash has become such a cynical joke that people now uses the term “Hutton-ize” or “Hutton-ization” to imply official whitewashing.
And across the Atlantic, as an example of big power arrogance, we have seen how a Nazi-like US soldier has been allowed to get away scot-free by a military court after he had tortured and murdered two Afghans at the US Bagram Air Base. It's another American My Lai whitewash disgrace all over again.
Note: I have 'repaired' the last few paragraphs which suffered from coherence due to missing sentences, though I had published them early this morning.
Why the World Hates America
"To the country boys here, if you're a different nationality, a different race, you're sub-human. That's the way that girls like Lynndie are raised ... Tormenting Iraqis, in her mind, would be no different from shooting a turkey. Every season here you're hunting something. Over there, they're hunting Iraqis."
Even though I had expected the verdict to be what it has turned out to be, I still feel utterly disgusted.
An American soldier in Afghanistan at the US military prison at Bagram base, Private First Class Willie Brand had assaulted, tortured, maimed and maltreated an innocent Afghan taxi driver who was passing the US military camp just as insurgents attacked the camp with rockets. The driver was so badly beaten and maimed in the legs that he couldn’t even stand up after the beating when ordered to do so. He died from severe trauma.
Brand then walloped a second Afghan who died from the beating as well.
The prosecutor Major Christopher Carrier said of Brand’s cruelty as the soldier beat the shit (literally) out of Dilawar:
"Hold him accountable. Thirty strikes is 29 opportunities to stop, but he did not do that. He hit him again."
And indeed again and again and again.
As expected, for his torture and murder of Dilawar, the all military jury merely demoted him from Private 1st class to Private – oh no, how terrible! isn’t that horrid, the poor boy – I mean Private Brand. F*** those Afghans anyway.
Then, they acquitted him of the 2nd charge concerning the other rag head who was killed by him as well. Mind you, the jury couldn’t do much because earlier murder charges were dropped. When rag heads have been killed, it’s not murder, silly!
I suppose he’s an all American boy who shouldn’t be held accountable for killing some brown skin bastards. Those Afghans were f***ing Asians afterall.
Thank God for America. God Bless America. F*** the International Court of Justice and the f***ing rag heads
And Americans wonder why the world hate them!
Related
(1) The Tragedy of an Afghan Taxi Driver
(2) The New Gulag Archipelago
(3) Bagram Villagers: “Die America!”
Even though I had expected the verdict to be what it has turned out to be, I still feel utterly disgusted.
An American soldier in Afghanistan at the US military prison at Bagram base, Private First Class Willie Brand had assaulted, tortured, maimed and maltreated an innocent Afghan taxi driver who was passing the US military camp just as insurgents attacked the camp with rockets. The driver was so badly beaten and maimed in the legs that he couldn’t even stand up after the beating when ordered to do so. He died from severe trauma.
Brand then walloped a second Afghan who died from the beating as well.
The prosecutor Major Christopher Carrier said of Brand’s cruelty as the soldier beat the shit (literally) out of Dilawar:
"Hold him accountable. Thirty strikes is 29 opportunities to stop, but he did not do that. He hit him again."
And indeed again and again and again.
As expected, for his torture and murder of Dilawar, the all military jury merely demoted him from Private 1st class to Private – oh no, how terrible! isn’t that horrid, the poor boy – I mean Private Brand. F*** those Afghans anyway.
Then, they acquitted him of the 2nd charge concerning the other rag head who was killed by him as well. Mind you, the jury couldn’t do much because earlier murder charges were dropped. When rag heads have been killed, it’s not murder, silly!
I suppose he’s an all American boy who shouldn’t be held accountable for killing some brown skin bastards. Those Afghans were f***ing Asians afterall.
Thank God for America. God Bless America. F*** the International Court of Justice and the f***ing rag heads
And Americans wonder why the world hate them!
Related
(1) The Tragedy of an Afghan Taxi Driver
(2) The New Gulag Archipelago
(3) Bagram Villagers: “Die America!”
Friday, August 19, 2005
Red Sea Missile Attack on US Navy Ship
Lately the Red Sea resorts have been under attack. Just last month, the Egyptians suffered 88 killed in terrorist bomb attacks at their holiday town at Sharm al-Sheikh.
Now, unknown attackers have shot 2 missiles, one at a US Navy ship, USS Ashland, at Jordan's Aqaba port and another at the Israeli port of Eilat, which is 9 km across the water from Aqaba. The attacks were coordinated.
Aqaba is a logistics hub for Iraq, used by the US military for moving logistic supplies into Iraq. The two USN ships were there on exercise with the Jordanian Navy.
The missile missed the American vessel but hit a nearby warehouse. The Ashland and sister amphibious ship the USS Kearsarge upped their anchors immediately and left Aqaba like the Star Trek USS Enterprise at Warp speed.
UPDATE:
One Jordanian soldier died in hospital from wounds suffered from the missile attacks. The missiles were launched from Jordanian territory.
Now, unknown attackers have shot 2 missiles, one at a US Navy ship, USS Ashland, at Jordan's Aqaba port and another at the Israeli port of Eilat, which is 9 km across the water from Aqaba. The attacks were coordinated.
Aqaba is a logistics hub for Iraq, used by the US military for moving logistic supplies into Iraq. The two USN ships were there on exercise with the Jordanian Navy.
The missile missed the American vessel but hit a nearby warehouse. The Ashland and sister amphibious ship the USS Kearsarge upped their anchors immediately and left Aqaba like the Star Trek USS Enterprise at Warp speed.
UPDATE:
One Jordanian soldier died in hospital from wounds suffered from the missile attacks. The missiles were launched from Jordanian territory.
Why is the US Deploying Paratroops to Iraq?
Paratroopers or airborne troops (though there is a slight technical difference between the two) are shock troops. They are in general used for their speed, stealth (until it’s too late for the enemy) and shock effects. They are inserted into combat zones, basically leapfrogging the normal army advance. Their aim could be to seize bridges, important stations or towns, key points, tactical terrain, etc. Sometimes, and rarely, they are used to reinforce other isolated troops under siege.
They are virtually the elite of the army troops. They are used principally for offensive actions and trained to hold on to an objective for a short period until relieved by the better equipped and more heavily armed normal troops.
Why then are the US military sending 700 paratroopers to Iraq, mind you, not to fight, but to help secure detention centres or prisons.
The Pentagon has announced that an infantry battalion from the WWII famous 82nd Airborne Division will go to Iraq over the next two months on an open-ended deployment to provide security at the US-run detention facilities.
Open-ended deployment! Got that?
It seems that the US paratroopers will be used for site-protection of the main prisons in Iraq, to provide security while transporting prisoners from one jail to another, and as prison guards. Those are duties that are normally assumed by the military police or even normal troops , whether from the regular army or National Guard reserves, but certainly not a role for elite shock troops specialising in offensive actions.
I don’t believe that will be their roles. I reckon the combat situation in Iraq is worsening and the US military has finally come to their senses to use highly trained combat troops such as the paratroops. Open-ended deployment means they'll be there for a while - perhaps one battalion now, and more later.
But the Pentagon probably is cloaking this real combat-required reason for the paratroopers’ deployment for various political reasons – (1) to disguise the worsening military situation, (2) to mask the incompetence or incapability of Reservists to deal with the Iraqi insurgents, (3) to leave unstated the frightening capability of the insurgents, (4) to pretend to the US public that the US military deployment interms of capability and capacity in Iraq has been adequate and correct all along (protecting the Secretary of Defence 's backside), and of course (5) to not lower the morale of the American people at home or the Reservists serving in Iraq.
On the other hand, if I misread the whole affair and the Pentagon is actually using the paras as prison wardens, then that does tell us something about the stupidity of the Secretary and his advisors.
de Menezes Execution Blunder - Whilstleblower Suspended
The Sydney Morning Herald reported this morning that the person who had leaked to ITV News the police cover-up attempts about the cruel execution of Jean-Charles De Menezes has been suspended. But the British media did not identify him or her.
The media believes that the person is or rather was a member of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) which is investigating the police shooting of De Menezes.
IPCC has not said anything about this news.
The media believes that the person is or rather was a member of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) which is investigating the police shooting of De Menezes.
IPCC has not said anything about this news.
British Police Attempted to Cover Up Blunder
The British Police attempts at a monumental cover up of the de Menezes execution have been revealed. ITV News obtained records that Sir Ian Blair, the London Metropolitan Police Commissioner, had applied pressure on the British Home Office to call off an independent commission from investigating the death of Jean Charles de Menezes. He also attempted to delay the same independent inquiry into the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes hours after his death.
He claimed that an inquiry by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) would slow down the police’s counter-terrorist investigations and might expose security intelligence to undesirable parties, like de Menezes’ family. This was even after the police knew that de Menezes was not a terrorist but an innocent bloke mistakenly tagged as a terrorist suspect and executed through unmitigated police blunder.
Basically Blair was attempting to sweep awful dirt under the carpet of national security. This tactic sadly seems to be the trend of late in the USA, UK and various other democratic western countries. Has Osama bin Laden then succeeded in making such democracies lose their accountability that Bush and Blair have been preaching that terrorists were jealous of?
Fortunately for truth and, more the case, the politicians' backside, the Home Office told him to f*** off, as that would surely destroy the credibility of the IPCC. There was too much higher political stakes under threat if the British people lose faith in the IPCC.
Nevertheless I heard de Menezes lawyer on Aussie TV Thursday night, when she complained that with all these lobbying and dilly-dallying, the IPCC could only start 3 days after the murder, whereas correct procedures ought to see them right there and then on the spot immediately after the shooting. She complained that much evidence had been “lost”.
So you would imagine the Police Chief to go away crestfallen, but hey no. He then attempted to divert attention by demanding that a police force investigate the IPCC for not keeping secure those leaked documents that ITV News had obtained.
This was precisely the same diversionary tactic that Bush's camp used to investigate into John Kerry's gallantry awards of the Silver Star and Purple Hearts that the presidential candidate won in real combat in Vietnam while Bush didn't even turn up for his National Air Guards' duties. In other words, put the opposition on the defensive by innuendos, insinuations and intimidations, and distract public attention from one own self.
The Police blamed the IPCC for allowing the security breach of those confidential files.
Now, I am not sure whether it’s normal procedure or the IPCC getting their own back, but its Head said that because of the leak, the IPCC will now brief the de Menezes family lawyers directly on their findings so far. Now, that's brilliant counter-offensive. That should make Blair apoplectic.
Actually a police surveillance officer had asked for approval to arrest de Menezes before he reached the station but for some unexplained reason this was refused. As I have blogged previously, I have my theory of the police adopting a “get me one!” attitude to show and reassure the British public that the police was on top of the security issue, or there might be a certain venom in their attitude.
Civilians can be venomous but public servants, especially police officers aren't entitled to such unprofessional conduct or emotions.
Three police officers in mufti were actually in the same carriage as de Menezes at Stockwell station where the victim sat down seconds before he was executed. The leaked documents and video showed that one of them held the doors open with his foot while directing a team of marksmen in besides pointing out de Menezes.
More importantly the video/picture (I saw the picture on TV) showed de Menezes dressed in a light corduroy jacket which wasn't even button up. Where the f*** was the concealed explosives? Why the aggravation and venom of almost 10 bullets in his head? [this one for you, Jon]
Oh, the British Bobbies, what ever happen to you guys? You're now just like your transatlantic cousins.
He claimed that an inquiry by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) would slow down the police’s counter-terrorist investigations and might expose security intelligence to undesirable parties, like de Menezes’ family. This was even after the police knew that de Menezes was not a terrorist but an innocent bloke mistakenly tagged as a terrorist suspect and executed through unmitigated police blunder.
Basically Blair was attempting to sweep awful dirt under the carpet of national security. This tactic sadly seems to be the trend of late in the USA, UK and various other democratic western countries. Has Osama bin Laden then succeeded in making such democracies lose their accountability that Bush and Blair have been preaching that terrorists were jealous of?
Fortunately for truth and, more the case, the politicians' backside, the Home Office told him to f*** off, as that would surely destroy the credibility of the IPCC. There was too much higher political stakes under threat if the British people lose faith in the IPCC.
Nevertheless I heard de Menezes lawyer on Aussie TV Thursday night, when she complained that with all these lobbying and dilly-dallying, the IPCC could only start 3 days after the murder, whereas correct procedures ought to see them right there and then on the spot immediately after the shooting. She complained that much evidence had been “lost”.
So you would imagine the Police Chief to go away crestfallen, but hey no. He then attempted to divert attention by demanding that a police force investigate the IPCC for not keeping secure those leaked documents that ITV News had obtained.
This was precisely the same diversionary tactic that Bush's camp used to investigate into John Kerry's gallantry awards of the Silver Star and Purple Hearts that the presidential candidate won in real combat in Vietnam while Bush didn't even turn up for his National Air Guards' duties. In other words, put the opposition on the defensive by innuendos, insinuations and intimidations, and distract public attention from one own self.
The Police blamed the IPCC for allowing the security breach of those confidential files.
Now, I am not sure whether it’s normal procedure or the IPCC getting their own back, but its Head said that because of the leak, the IPCC will now brief the de Menezes family lawyers directly on their findings so far. Now, that's brilliant counter-offensive. That should make Blair apoplectic.
Actually a police surveillance officer had asked for approval to arrest de Menezes before he reached the station but for some unexplained reason this was refused. As I have blogged previously, I have my theory of the police adopting a “get me one!” attitude to show and reassure the British public that the police was on top of the security issue, or there might be a certain venom in their attitude.
Civilians can be venomous but public servants, especially police officers aren't entitled to such unprofessional conduct or emotions.
Three police officers in mufti were actually in the same carriage as de Menezes at Stockwell station where the victim sat down seconds before he was executed. The leaked documents and video showed that one of them held the doors open with his foot while directing a team of marksmen in besides pointing out de Menezes.
More importantly the video/picture (I saw the picture on TV) showed de Menezes dressed in a light corduroy jacket which wasn't even button up. Where the f*** was the concealed explosives? Why the aggravation and venom of almost 10 bullets in his head? [this one for you, Jon]
“Get me one”?
In the end Scotland Yard confirmed that Blair did ask the Permanent Secretary at the Home Office for a “review” of the position of the IPCC because according to Blair, it was crucial that the terrorist investigation took precedence over any IPCC investigation at that time, meaning don’t let the IPCC investigate the Police as they were surrounded by hordes of Pakis, Iraqis and Afghans, not to mention one particular Brazilian.Oh, the British Bobbies, what ever happen to you guys? You're now just like your transatlantic cousins.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Divisive Religion or Religious Division? (2)
Continuing from Divisive Religion or Religious Division? (1).
Subsequently I discovered that it's not only the Malaysian Muslims who indulge in or perhaps fantasize with exclusive greetings, arcane societies and secret handshakes.
Hey, I am an expert on secret handshakes. Beside being a former scout (left hand straight to-from the heart), I fraternised with people in the Boys’ Brigade (little pinkie being naughty – as you can see, those Boys Brigade were really sissies).
I am familiar too with the African American 15 slap-knuckle-point-pound-grip secret Kunta Kinte bruther-shake.
OK, here’s where I realised that the greater religious consciousness has permeated into Chinese society as well.
My neighbour, a sweet Chinese lady (let's call her Angel-eyes - there's more of her in Part 3) would greet her friends with a Namo Ami Tua Fo, a greeting calling upon the Amitabha Buddha. This mantra is used as a greeting by monks of the Chinese Pure Land Sect of Buddhism, and also chanted by lay disciples as part of their daily prayers.
In the past, lay Buddhists hadn’t or rarely used it among themselves, though they respectfully did when they greeted a monk. Believe me, my mum is a devotee of this sect since she was a small girl, but she doesn't go around sprouting Namo Ami Tua Fo except during prayers.
Chinese traditionally greet each other with the usual “Are you doing well" and "Have you eaten?”, the latter perhaps indicating their origin from a difficult and sometimes famine-stricken land.
Has this Namo Ami Tua Fo stuff then been a response to the Muslim Assalamu alaikum? Perhaps it’s one of those anything you can do, I can do better? Or, could it be a sense to belong, demonstrated by secret callsigns and exclusive greetings among fellow members?
My best friend used to lift his eyebrows in a special way when he wanted me to talk his wife into allowing him out with me, to the pub of course, but without revealing our intended destination - bastard virtually made a liar out of me. Dear Irene broke our Da Vinci code rather easily, with a threat of bodily harm to her husband and a non-welcome to me if we persisted in secret signs.
Being rebellious but timid, we quietly changed our covert signalling to head and ears and nose scratching - she's still suspicious till today.
To be continued with Part 3 .........
Subsequently I discovered that it's not only the Malaysian Muslims who indulge in or perhaps fantasize with exclusive greetings, arcane societies and secret handshakes.
Hey, I am an expert on secret handshakes. Beside being a former scout (left hand straight to-from the heart), I fraternised with people in the Boys’ Brigade (little pinkie being naughty – as you can see, those Boys Brigade were really sissies).
I am familiar too with the African American 15 slap-knuckle-point-pound-grip secret Kunta Kinte bruther-shake.
OK, here’s where I realised that the greater religious consciousness has permeated into Chinese society as well.
My neighbour, a sweet Chinese lady (let's call her Angel-eyes - there's more of her in Part 3) would greet her friends with a Namo Ami Tua Fo, a greeting calling upon the Amitabha Buddha. This mantra is used as a greeting by monks of the Chinese Pure Land Sect of Buddhism, and also chanted by lay disciples as part of their daily prayers.
In the past, lay Buddhists hadn’t or rarely used it among themselves, though they respectfully did when they greeted a monk. Believe me, my mum is a devotee of this sect since she was a small girl, but she doesn't go around sprouting Namo Ami Tua Fo except during prayers.
Chinese traditionally greet each other with the usual “Are you doing well" and "Have you eaten?”, the latter perhaps indicating their origin from a difficult and sometimes famine-stricken land.
Has this Namo Ami Tua Fo stuff then been a response to the Muslim Assalamu alaikum? Perhaps it’s one of those anything you can do, I can do better? Or, could it be a sense to belong, demonstrated by secret callsigns and exclusive greetings among fellow members?
My best friend used to lift his eyebrows in a special way when he wanted me to talk his wife into allowing him out with me, to the pub of course, but without revealing our intended destination - bastard virtually made a liar out of me. Dear Irene broke our Da Vinci code rather easily, with a threat of bodily harm to her husband and a non-welcome to me if we persisted in secret signs.
Being rebellious but timid, we quietly changed our covert signalling to head and ears and nose scratching - she's still suspicious till today.
To be continued with Part 3 .........
Kurds Readying Themselves for Post-Iraq
My friend, who is a lawyer, is used to my teasing him about his profession. Lawyers have a notorious reputation in western countries, ranked at the bottom of the pit, just besides untrustworthy politicians and despised human resource managers - these professionals have assume positions once reserved for used car salesmen or bank managers.
He would make a joke of it whenever he wants me to believe him, by saying "Trust me, I'm a lawyer." Both of us would then have a laugh with two beers.
Now what the Kurds in Iraq are saying with regards to the proposed but still-unagreed-upon constitution reminds me about my friend's self critical joke.
Kurdish leaders assured the rest of Iraq that they don’t want to secede even if they want the new constitution to give them the right to do so. The “right to do so” was one of the sticky issues that delayed consensus on the new constitution.
The Sunnis said that the most unacceptable point is the issue of federalism, which prevents them from agreeing to the constitution.
Most Sunnis are downright suspicious of the step just beyond federalism, the inevitable Kurdish demands for self-determination and an independent nation carved out of Iraq.
US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad tried to gloss over this issue by saying that self-determination wasn’t an item on the agenda, so what’s the bloody fuss.
But President Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, confessed that Kurds wanted self-determination. In fact, the Kurds have demanded the right to decide on self-determination in 8 years' time, and they want this provision enshrined in the new constitution. However, he told everyone not to worry as secession was the last thing on their minds. He said "There are rumors that the Kurds want to secede, but they are for unity."
Hah, where's my lawyer friend with his joke, "Trust me, I am a lawyer"?
I have also read in a hardcopy Aussie paper that the Kurds want its autonomous region to have the right to negotiate international treaties directly with foreign powers. A province negotiating directly with a foreign power? It's like Penang negotiating an international treaty directly with China, or Bali with India.
Now, let me guess which foreign country or countries would the Kurds want to establish treaties with?
He would make a joke of it whenever he wants me to believe him, by saying "Trust me, I'm a lawyer." Both of us would then have a laugh with two beers.
Now what the Kurds in Iraq are saying with regards to the proposed but still-unagreed-upon constitution reminds me about my friend's self critical joke.
Kurdish leaders assured the rest of Iraq that they don’t want to secede even if they want the new constitution to give them the right to do so. The “right to do so” was one of the sticky issues that delayed consensus on the new constitution.
The Sunnis said that the most unacceptable point is the issue of federalism, which prevents them from agreeing to the constitution.
Most Sunnis are downright suspicious of the step just beyond federalism, the inevitable Kurdish demands for self-determination and an independent nation carved out of Iraq.
US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad tried to gloss over this issue by saying that self-determination wasn’t an item on the agenda, so what’s the bloody fuss.
But President Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, confessed that Kurds wanted self-determination. In fact, the Kurds have demanded the right to decide on self-determination in 8 years' time, and they want this provision enshrined in the new constitution. However, he told everyone not to worry as secession was the last thing on their minds. He said "There are rumors that the Kurds want to secede, but they are for unity."
Hah, where's my lawyer friend with his joke, "Trust me, I am a lawyer"?
I have also read in a hardcopy Aussie paper that the Kurds want its autonomous region to have the right to negotiate international treaties directly with foreign powers. A province negotiating directly with a foreign power? It's like Penang negotiating an international treaty directly with China, or Bali with India.
Now, let me guess which foreign country or countries would the Kurds want to establish treaties with?
The Unsuspecting Suspect & The Eager Executioner
"He was carrying nothing; he was wearing nothing that would suggest that he was hiding explosives. He was enabled to travel all the way down the escalators and get on to a Tube, and he was shot with the intention of killing him."
The sinister story of the cold blooded execution of Jean Charles de Menezes continues.
Harriet Wistrich, solicitor for the family of Mr de Menezes, said she was terrified by the information that the leaked documents to ITV News revealed.
She asked plaintively:
"What sort of society are we living in where we can execute suspects?"
Indeed. Perhaps one with an Israeli-trained police force?
She was annoyed with the lie that the police put out as public information. Every detail, except for the fact of a very very dead de Menezes, was entirely wrong and misleading.
For example, de Menezes didn’t run away from police as alleged by police. She further added that the police provided incorrect information to the pathologist who carried out the post-mortem examination on de Menezes.
In the leaked documents including a video obtained by ITV News de Menezes was observed to stroll normally and pick up a newspaper on his fatal walk to the Tube. He then used a travelcard to pass through the ticket barrier of a London Tube station. This proves the lie by the Police that he had run away when challenged, then vaulted the barriers and sprinted down the escalators.
Again, the leaked documents showed what his cousin had said all along, that de Menezes was wearing a blue denim jacket, exposing the deceitful fabrication of the police that he was wearing a bulky winter coat that could have concealed bombs.
Amazingly, the surveillance officers had actually failed to identify him. The one who was supposed to identify de Menezes as he left the flat was having a piss at that particular moment while another claimed de Menezes had ‘distinctive Mongolian eyes’. Yet they targeted him.
A former police Flying Squad commander, John O'Connor commented on BBC that the leaked report was a public relations disaster for the London Police Commissioner. He suggested that heads would roll on this BIG LIE, and Sir Ian Blair would be under pressure to resign - unless, of course, another Hutton-ised report could be issued.
O'Connor added that had the normal procedures been followed, where a warning would normally be given with officers wearing specially marked clothing then de Menezes might not have been killed. But alas, they adopted an Israeli police tactic which doesn’t recognise the opposition as normal human beings.
You now wonder whether the deliberate leak of de Menezes "expired" visa was another lie?
But the most horrendous item in the revealed papers has been the report that de Menezes was already restrained before he was shot 8 times.
ITV News provided a chilling account of what happened in the train after de Menezes had sat down. The report quoted a police surveillance officer, the one who wrapped his arms around Menezes to restrain him in his seat, as saying:
"I grabbed the male in the denim jacket by wrapping both my arms around his torso, pinning his arms to his side. I then pushed him back on to the seat where he had been previously sitting ... I then heard a gun shot very close to my left ear and was dragged away onto the floor of the carriage."
As I mentioned in a much earlier post, could it have been the desire of the police to “get” at least one of the bombers, or was there a ‘conflict of interest’ where the police who killed de Menezes had a family member, relative or friend hurt or even killed in the London bombings?
The London bobbies were once the most respected and trusted security force in the world, but today one wonders what standards they have stumbled down to.
- Harriet Wistrich, lawyer for the de Menezes family
The sinister story of the cold blooded execution of Jean Charles de Menezes continues.
Harriet Wistrich, solicitor for the family of Mr de Menezes, said she was terrified by the information that the leaked documents to ITV News revealed.
She asked plaintively:
"What sort of society are we living in where we can execute suspects?"
Indeed. Perhaps one with an Israeli-trained police force?
She was annoyed with the lie that the police put out as public information. Every detail, except for the fact of a very very dead de Menezes, was entirely wrong and misleading.
For example, de Menezes didn’t run away from police as alleged by police. She further added that the police provided incorrect information to the pathologist who carried out the post-mortem examination on de Menezes.
In the leaked documents including a video obtained by ITV News de Menezes was observed to stroll normally and pick up a newspaper on his fatal walk to the Tube. He then used a travelcard to pass through the ticket barrier of a London Tube station. This proves the lie by the Police that he had run away when challenged, then vaulted the barriers and sprinted down the escalators.
Again, the leaked documents showed what his cousin had said all along, that de Menezes was wearing a blue denim jacket, exposing the deceitful fabrication of the police that he was wearing a bulky winter coat that could have concealed bombs.
Amazingly, the surveillance officers had actually failed to identify him. The one who was supposed to identify de Menezes as he left the flat was having a piss at that particular moment while another claimed de Menezes had ‘distinctive Mongolian eyes’. Yet they targeted him.
A former police Flying Squad commander, John O'Connor commented on BBC that the leaked report was a public relations disaster for the London Police Commissioner. He suggested that heads would roll on this BIG LIE, and Sir Ian Blair would be under pressure to resign - unless, of course, another Hutton-ised report could be issued.
O'Connor added that had the normal procedures been followed, where a warning would normally be given with officers wearing specially marked clothing then de Menezes might not have been killed. But alas, they adopted an Israeli police tactic which doesn’t recognise the opposition as normal human beings.
You now wonder whether the deliberate leak of de Menezes "expired" visa was another lie?
But the most horrendous item in the revealed papers has been the report that de Menezes was already restrained before he was shot 8 times.
ITV News provided a chilling account of what happened in the train after de Menezes had sat down. The report quoted a police surveillance officer, the one who wrapped his arms around Menezes to restrain him in his seat, as saying:
"I grabbed the male in the denim jacket by wrapping both my arms around his torso, pinning his arms to his side. I then pushed him back on to the seat where he had been previously sitting ... I then heard a gun shot very close to my left ear and was dragged away onto the floor of the carriage."
As I mentioned in a much earlier post, could it have been the desire of the police to “get” at least one of the bombers, or was there a ‘conflict of interest’ where the police who killed de Menezes had a family member, relative or friend hurt or even killed in the London bombings?
The London bobbies were once the most respected and trusted security force in the world, but today one wonders what standards they have stumbled down to.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Divisive Religion or Religious Division? (1)
During the last couple of decades or so, there has been a far greater religious consciousness in Malaysia. By using the word ‘consciousness’ I have been more than generous. I find it difficult to call it a ‘renaissance’ or even an ‘awakening’ for the reason that the acute awareness has more to do with ethnic polarisation than spiritual enlightenment – the rise and rise of ‘they & us’.
For example, on meeting each other, Malays would address Muslims friends and Muslims strangers with Assalamu alaikum, which in Arabic means peace be upon you. I must say it’s really a beautiful greeting. We all could do with such wishes. The appropriate reciprocation is of course Walaikum assalam.
This greeting is not been new, and has been used in Malaya/Malaysia for hundreds of years by, though not all, Muslim. In reality, it's used on an everyday basis by Arabs, even Christian ones - well, at least those that I know very well.
Unfortunately today, one can sense and observe the users treating it as a greeting exclusive only to Muslims, like a membership gold card of a very special and segregated club.
One day I saluted my favourite bank teller, a sweet Malay lady, with this Arab felicitation. Having a sweet eye for her, I had preferred to see her for my bank withdrawals rather than use the faceless auto-box. On hearing my Arabic greetings, she showed her surprise, though she swiftly reciprocated.
While working out my paltry withdrawal she said – and I still recall this most vividly - "Sir, it's so sweet of you to wish me that but you shouldn't because you aren't a Muslim. Just a Selamat Pagi or Good Morning would do." Then she smiled dazzlingly at me as if to take away any sting of her sweet and gentle rebuke.
Aaah, my heart did a magic somersault, and for the 15th time that morning, I felled deeply in love. Her dark doe eyes seemed to smile too, so much so that I was quite tempted to leap over the counter to be beside her, except that a bank guard was eyeing me all along, with suspicion on his face – blast, I am just that sort of bloke who has always invited the wrong kind of attention.
However, back to the issue - I didn't have the heart to remind her it's just an Arabic salutation and not a Koranic phrase, or that it meant 'Muslims of the world, unite' or 'Saladin was a jolly good bloke with a nifty slash, thrust and parry!'
Why didn't she accept my Assalamu alaikum? I thought I did say it rather smartly and sincerely ;-)
To be continued with Part 2 ........
For example, on meeting each other, Malays would address Muslims friends and Muslims strangers with Assalamu alaikum, which in Arabic means peace be upon you. I must say it’s really a beautiful greeting. We all could do with such wishes. The appropriate reciprocation is of course Walaikum assalam.
This greeting is not been new, and has been used in Malaya/Malaysia for hundreds of years by, though not all, Muslim. In reality, it's used on an everyday basis by Arabs, even Christian ones - well, at least those that I know very well.
Unfortunately today, one can sense and observe the users treating it as a greeting exclusive only to Muslims, like a membership gold card of a very special and segregated club.
One day I saluted my favourite bank teller, a sweet Malay lady, with this Arab felicitation. Having a sweet eye for her, I had preferred to see her for my bank withdrawals rather than use the faceless auto-box. On hearing my Arabic greetings, she showed her surprise, though she swiftly reciprocated.
While working out my paltry withdrawal she said – and I still recall this most vividly - "Sir, it's so sweet of you to wish me that but you shouldn't because you aren't a Muslim. Just a Selamat Pagi or Good Morning would do." Then she smiled dazzlingly at me as if to take away any sting of her sweet and gentle rebuke.
Aaah, my heart did a magic somersault, and for the 15th time that morning, I felled deeply in love. Her dark doe eyes seemed to smile too, so much so that I was quite tempted to leap over the counter to be beside her, except that a bank guard was eyeing me all along, with suspicion on his face – blast, I am just that sort of bloke who has always invited the wrong kind of attention.
However, back to the issue - I didn't have the heart to remind her it's just an Arabic salutation and not a Koranic phrase, or that it meant 'Muslims of the world, unite' or 'Saladin was a jolly good bloke with a nifty slash, thrust and parry!'
Why didn't she accept my Assalamu alaikum? I thought I did say it rather smartly and sincerely ;-)
To be continued with Part 2 ........
Dinosaurs on Noah's Ark?
In Arkansas, USA, there is a new museum of ‘earth history’. You walk in and learn that once upon a time, dinosaurs and humans did coexist. It also teaches that baby dinosaurs were on board Noah's Ark. The author of Genesis had merely forgotten to put that fact into the good Book.
Not to be outdone, Texas and Kentucky are building similar museums. BTW, these are Bush's country. Gallup Poll found out that 45% of Americans believe about 10,000 years ago human beings were created by God exactly as in their current forms, and did not evolve from apelike Neandertals like those satanic antropologists or Darwinists claimed.
All these stuff are called intelligent design, another name for creation theory a la the Book of Genesis.
President George Bush of course supports strongly the teaching of intelligent design in school. The US press told him to f*** off, and as they termed it, managed to hold off the Christian Taliban. But these creationists are not giving up. More US States are legislating for creationism to be taught at schools - now you know why the USA blindly supports the Hebraic Israel.
Just in case you think it’s confined to the American brand of Christianity, the Catholic Church has waded in, supporting creationism, with one top cleric stating that any system of thought that denies or seeks to explain away the overwhelming evidence for design in biology is ideology, not science. Though I believe they have gotten their facts the wrong way around (ie. whose science versus whose ideology), the Pope disagrees with me and indicates that he supports creationism.
Then down under, in good ole Australia, the last bloody place for creationism, Australia’s education minister, Brendan Nelson, stated that he is quite happy with schools teaching intelligent design. What sort of 'design'? ;-)
G Thomas Sharp, chairman of the Creation Truth Foundation, told the Chicago Tribune, "if we lose Genesis as a legitimate scientific and historical explanation for man, then we lose the validity of Christianity. Period.”
Therefore according to this people, Christianity is under siege, because the facts of Genesis have been under attack by those so-called silly scientists.
The creationists demand from the opposition evidence to prove that Genesis was not true, and then of course conveniently ignore those evidence when presented to them.
While one can understand why 45% of Americans still believe in the tooth fairy and Santa Claus, I have been amazed by the Catholic Church’s support of things like little green elves. What happened to intellectuals like the Jesuits? Why are they mum on this issue?
Of course it's easy to explain why the Aussie minister Brendan Nelson, a pollie notorious for his open ambition to become prime minister, supports creationism. He sees a growing electoral following of fundamentalist Christians, and mate, to him, a vote is a vote, so perhaps that explains the strange Aussie statement.
Hmmm, I am going to hang up my stockings and place my tooth (plastic - made in Shenzhen) under my pillow, just in case. You know, intelligent design ;-)
Not to be outdone, Texas and Kentucky are building similar museums. BTW, these are Bush's country. Gallup Poll found out that 45% of Americans believe about 10,000 years ago human beings were created by God exactly as in their current forms, and did not evolve from apelike Neandertals like those satanic antropologists or Darwinists claimed.
All these stuff are called intelligent design, another name for creation theory a la the Book of Genesis.
President George Bush of course supports strongly the teaching of intelligent design in school. The US press told him to f*** off, and as they termed it, managed to hold off the Christian Taliban. But these creationists are not giving up. More US States are legislating for creationism to be taught at schools - now you know why the USA blindly supports the Hebraic Israel.
Just in case you think it’s confined to the American brand of Christianity, the Catholic Church has waded in, supporting creationism, with one top cleric stating that any system of thought that denies or seeks to explain away the overwhelming evidence for design in biology is ideology, not science. Though I believe they have gotten their facts the wrong way around (ie. whose science versus whose ideology), the Pope disagrees with me and indicates that he supports creationism.
Then down under, in good ole Australia, the last bloody place for creationism, Australia’s education minister, Brendan Nelson, stated that he is quite happy with schools teaching intelligent design. What sort of 'design'? ;-)
G Thomas Sharp, chairman of the Creation Truth Foundation, told the Chicago Tribune, "if we lose Genesis as a legitimate scientific and historical explanation for man, then we lose the validity of Christianity. Period.”
Therefore according to this people, Christianity is under siege, because the facts of Genesis have been under attack by those so-called silly scientists.
The creationists demand from the opposition evidence to prove that Genesis was not true, and then of course conveniently ignore those evidence when presented to them.
While one can understand why 45% of Americans still believe in the tooth fairy and Santa Claus, I have been amazed by the Catholic Church’s support of things like little green elves. What happened to intellectuals like the Jesuits? Why are they mum on this issue?
Of course it's easy to explain why the Aussie minister Brendan Nelson, a pollie notorious for his open ambition to become prime minister, supports creationism. He sees a growing electoral following of fundamentalist Christians, and mate, to him, a vote is a vote, so perhaps that explains the strange Aussie statement.
Hmmm, I am going to hang up my stockings and place my tooth (plastic - made in Shenzhen) under my pillow, just in case. You know, intelligent design ;-)
Update - Columbian Airline Crash Killed 160
All 152 passengers and 8 crew members perished in the MD-80 aircraft crash. Most of the passengers were French citizens. Prior to crashing the crew had radioed a distress message, saying the aeroplane experienced engine problems and was losing height rapidly.
British Cops' Execution of Brazilian - Lies Exposed
British ITV News has confirmed what we all knew along, that British Police had been pretty gungho when it murdered a Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes shortly after the second London Tube bombing.
ITV News found out that Police made a catastrophic failure in the surveillance operation, which led officers to incorrectly identified de Menezes as one of the ‘failed’ bombers.
ITV News obtained secret documents and photographs from the shooting on July 22. The CCTV footage and eyewitness accounts indeeed supported de Menezes’ relatives’ protests against Police lies.
It showed that the Brazilian was not wearing a padded jacket. On top of that de Menezes was walking calmly through the underground station barriers. It exposed the Police lies that he was running away, wore a bulky jacket which could have concealed a bomb, and had to be restrained before he was shot.
Apparently the officers was given clearance to kill de Menezes. They rushed after him and even then, de Menezes seemed completely unaware that he was being trailed.
Police declined to comment on the ITV report.
If the ITV News is correct, it is blatant murder. But then, we knew that all along.
Remember EIGHT SHOTS IN THE HEAD!!!
ITV News found out that Police made a catastrophic failure in the surveillance operation, which led officers to incorrectly identified de Menezes as one of the ‘failed’ bombers.
ITV News obtained secret documents and photographs from the shooting on July 22. The CCTV footage and eyewitness accounts indeeed supported de Menezes’ relatives’ protests against Police lies.
It showed that the Brazilian was not wearing a padded jacket. On top of that de Menezes was walking calmly through the underground station barriers. It exposed the Police lies that he was running away, wore a bulky jacket which could have concealed a bomb, and had to be restrained before he was shot.
Apparently the officers was given clearance to kill de Menezes. They rushed after him and even then, de Menezes seemed completely unaware that he was being trailed.
Police declined to comment on the ITV report.
If the ITV News is correct, it is blatant murder. But then, we knew that all along.
Remember EIGHT SHOTS IN THE HEAD!!!
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
BREAKING NEWS - Columbian Airline Crash
Columbian airline with 152 on board crashed in remote NW part of Venezuela. State of survivors are still unknown as rescuers make their way to the crash site.
Meanwhile, in Afghanistan 17 NATO (Spanish) soldiers have been killed in helicopter crash, probably as a result of sandstorms.
Meanwhile, in Afghanistan 17 NATO (Spanish) soldiers have been killed in helicopter crash, probably as a result of sandstorms.
Sorry We Killed You
She’s a black maid who was held by a white man against her will as a slave. He threatened to shoot her if she attempted to leave.
When he raised a metal bar to hit her, she grabbed his gun, which he was using to intimidate her, and shot him. Today that would undoubtedly be termed self defence. But in 1945, after a one-day trial before an all-white all-male jury, she was sentenced to death on the electric chair.
60 years after her death the Georgia (USA) Board of Pardons and Paroles has decided to pardon Lena Baker. However, they still refuse to find Baker innocent of the crime. Anyway, they plan to present the pardon to her descendants.
The Pardon Board took 60 years to concede that denying her a pardon in 1945 was a grievous error, as there were mitigating circumstances. They could have gone further by saying she wasn't guilty and proclaimed her innocence as well.
John Cole Vodicka, director of a prison-advocacy group said:
"Although in some ways it's 60 years too late, it's gratifying to see that this blatant instance of injustice has finally been recognised for what it was - a legal lynching."
She wasn’t the only coloured person to be legally lynched by America’s notorious white supremacist past.
When he raised a metal bar to hit her, she grabbed his gun, which he was using to intimidate her, and shot him. Today that would undoubtedly be termed self defence. But in 1945, after a one-day trial before an all-white all-male jury, she was sentenced to death on the electric chair.
60 years after her death the Georgia (USA) Board of Pardons and Paroles has decided to pardon Lena Baker. However, they still refuse to find Baker innocent of the crime. Anyway, they plan to present the pardon to her descendants.
The Pardon Board took 60 years to concede that denying her a pardon in 1945 was a grievous error, as there were mitigating circumstances. They could have gone further by saying she wasn't guilty and proclaimed her innocence as well.
John Cole Vodicka, director of a prison-advocacy group said:
"Although in some ways it's 60 years too late, it's gratifying to see that this blatant instance of injustice has finally been recognised for what it was - a legal lynching."
She wasn’t the only coloured person to be legally lynched by America’s notorious white supremacist past.
Delay in Iraq's Constitution
As expected the new Iraqi constitution couldn’t be agreed upon by all parties – please see my previous postings on why!
This is obviously a major setback for President Bush as he had hoped to use the passage of the new constitution as an excuse to hightail it back home (with tail behind the US military’s hind legs). The US wants desperately to extricate itself from the Iraqi quagmire once it can be assured that the oil assets are in “good hands”.
Bush isn’t the most popular guy in the USA, with mothers and dads of dead soldiers starting the same anti-war swell that had brought Lyndon B Johnson down during the horrendous Vietnam war. Though the growing anti-Republican Party feelings may not affect Bush personally as he is already in the second term, he still doesn’t want t go out of office as the most unpopular president ever. Besides, his successors may be affected. There are now talks about Dick Cheney holding 2008 until Jeb Bush would be ready in 2012.
Some US experts have pointed out that in the matter of the new Iraqi constitution, the Bush Administration has been its own worst enemy. They reckon there’s too much American pressure on the the interim Iraqi government and constitution draftees. The Iraqi people see the US as playing the principal role in the drafting of the constitution. That certainly brings into disrepute and lack of credibility of the Iraqi Constitution as one that's according to Bush.
For example, experts mentioned that Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador in Iraq, has been too prominent in pushing the Iraqis on the constitution, which of course revealed the fact that it is the US who’s pulling the strings. And that includes contentious issues like ‘federalism’, oil revenue distribution and the Kurdish peshmerga, its private army.
All seems to be pointing to the US hands in fostering conditions ideal for the disintegration of Iraq as we know it.
This is obviously a major setback for President Bush as he had hoped to use the passage of the new constitution as an excuse to hightail it back home (with tail behind the US military’s hind legs). The US wants desperately to extricate itself from the Iraqi quagmire once it can be assured that the oil assets are in “good hands”.
Bush isn’t the most popular guy in the USA, with mothers and dads of dead soldiers starting the same anti-war swell that had brought Lyndon B Johnson down during the horrendous Vietnam war. Though the growing anti-Republican Party feelings may not affect Bush personally as he is already in the second term, he still doesn’t want t go out of office as the most unpopular president ever. Besides, his successors may be affected. There are now talks about Dick Cheney holding 2008 until Jeb Bush would be ready in 2012.
Some US experts have pointed out that in the matter of the new Iraqi constitution, the Bush Administration has been its own worst enemy. They reckon there’s too much American pressure on the the interim Iraqi government and constitution draftees. The Iraqi people see the US as playing the principal role in the drafting of the constitution. That certainly brings into disrepute and lack of credibility of the Iraqi Constitution as one that's according to Bush.
For example, experts mentioned that Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador in Iraq, has been too prominent in pushing the Iraqis on the constitution, which of course revealed the fact that it is the US who’s pulling the strings. And that includes contentious issues like ‘federalism’, oil revenue distribution and the Kurdish peshmerga, its private army.
All seems to be pointing to the US hands in fostering conditions ideal for the disintegration of Iraq as we know it.
A Virgin, More or Less!
In Naming a New Planet – the Divine Connection (2) I wrote:
"Both Artemis and Athena were known as frigid ladies and virgins - well, 'more or less' for one, but let's leave the 'more or less' issue aside for a while."
One of my mates asked me to explain what I had meant by the ‘more or less’ part about the virginity of one of the frigid ladies.
In that statement I have been referring to Athena. That qualification of 'more or less' came from an interesting episode in Greek mythology. Athena was of course Zeus’ daughter by Metis, one of the Chief Olympian’s many consorts.
One day Athena went to see her half brother, Hephaestus (or in Roman lore, Vulcan) the God of Fire, for some weapons. Hephaestus was the divine sword smith. He was born lame but was nevertheless a marvellous inventor and metalwork genius, and there was nothing he couldn’t forge. For a semi-cripple he was married to, would you believe, Aphrodite, that striking beautiful Goddess of Love. But Aphrodite was a naughty goddess, also sneaking off behind Hephaestus’ back for a little 69 with Ares (or Mars).
Anyway, Hephaestus was a bit frusco when Aphrodite left him. When he saw Athena he suddenly developed the hots for her, and gave chase to de-flower the goddess. Though lame he caught (hey he was a god after all) and embraced her but Athena didn’t give in.
Poor Hephaestus was so excited by this stage that he wetted her legs. In modern parlance he suffered premature ejaculation. Jeez, a God was only human ;-)
Anyway, with that discharge, he deflated his lustful passion for Athena. When Athena was born, if you remember from the previous post, she shouted a war cry that resounded in heaven and on earth. Well, when she felt Hephaestus' gooey stuff on her legs, she was again screaming her war cry that shook both heavens and earth, but this time with a mighty “YUUUUUCK.”
She wiped off the bleeaaah stuff ;-) and threw that onto the ground. The earth was thus fertilised by Hephaestus’ seeds, giving birth to a man, Erichtonius (pronounced 'Eri-chthon-ius' - 'chthon' means 'earth'). Athena acknowledged him as her son and brought him up secretly. Erichtonius grew up to become one of Athens early kings.
What do you think? Was this the virgin birth that we talk about in another religion? Obviously here, the father was a blacksmith whereas in the other religion, he was a carpenter.
Or, do you consider that Athena was no longer a virgin?
"Both Artemis and Athena were known as frigid ladies and virgins - well, 'more or less' for one, but let's leave the 'more or less' issue aside for a while."
One of my mates asked me to explain what I had meant by the ‘more or less’ part about the virginity of one of the frigid ladies.
In that statement I have been referring to Athena. That qualification of 'more or less' came from an interesting episode in Greek mythology. Athena was of course Zeus’ daughter by Metis, one of the Chief Olympian’s many consorts.
One day Athena went to see her half brother, Hephaestus (or in Roman lore, Vulcan) the God of Fire, for some weapons. Hephaestus was the divine sword smith. He was born lame but was nevertheless a marvellous inventor and metalwork genius, and there was nothing he couldn’t forge. For a semi-cripple he was married to, would you believe, Aphrodite, that striking beautiful Goddess of Love. But Aphrodite was a naughty goddess, also sneaking off behind Hephaestus’ back for a little 69 with Ares (or Mars).
Anyway, Hephaestus was a bit frusco when Aphrodite left him. When he saw Athena he suddenly developed the hots for her, and gave chase to de-flower the goddess. Though lame he caught (hey he was a god after all) and embraced her but Athena didn’t give in.
Poor Hephaestus was so excited by this stage that he wetted her legs. In modern parlance he suffered premature ejaculation. Jeez, a God was only human ;-)
Anyway, with that discharge, he deflated his lustful passion for Athena. When Athena was born, if you remember from the previous post, she shouted a war cry that resounded in heaven and on earth. Well, when she felt Hephaestus' gooey stuff on her legs, she was again screaming her war cry that shook both heavens and earth, but this time with a mighty “YUUUUUCK.”
She wiped off the bleeaaah stuff ;-) and threw that onto the ground. The earth was thus fertilised by Hephaestus’ seeds, giving birth to a man, Erichtonius (pronounced 'Eri-chthon-ius' - 'chthon' means 'earth'). Athena acknowledged him as her son and brought him up secretly. Erichtonius grew up to become one of Athens early kings.
What do you think? Was this the virgin birth that we talk about in another religion? Obviously here, the father was a blacksmith whereas in the other religion, he was a carpenter.
Or, do you consider that Athena was no longer a virgin?
Born Losers!
Some people are born lucky, while others are born losers. Well, a group of Brazilian convicts belong to the second category. No, it’s not just that they are in prison, but when they spent months digging a tunnel to escape, they found that they had emerged only in the prison yard.
67 of them came out from their tunnel just 30cm short of the main perimeter wall. You know the old saying: A miss is as good as a mile.
The prison guards were bloody sadistic, having discovered the escape plan but letting those clowns carry on their fruitless excavation. They cruelly waited at the tunnel's exit for the men to emerge and promptly took the dumbfounded or just plain dumb prisoners back to their cells. Oh, before they marched them off, the guards had a jolly good laugh - now that was even crueler.
67 of them came out from their tunnel just 30cm short of the main perimeter wall. You know the old saying: A miss is as good as a mile.
The prison guards were bloody sadistic, having discovered the escape plan but letting those clowns carry on their fruitless excavation. They cruelly waited at the tunnel's exit for the men to emerge and promptly took the dumbfounded or just plain dumb prisoners back to their cells. Oh, before they marched them off, the guards had a jolly good laugh - now that was even crueler.
Monday, August 15, 2005
General, How Dare You Tell The Truth!
“You bloody dumbo, you have just let the cat out of the bag. Twit.”
This must have been what the poor general was told. The top American commander in Iraq has been reprimanded by the big brass for speaking out the truth, that the US was tucking its tail between its hind legs and retreating from Iraq, and in a very surreptitious manner.
General George Casey, the US ground commander in Iraq, had stated that troop numbers could be reduced by 30,000 in the early months of next year down to just 100,000. But he didn't realise that it doesn’t do to let everyone know that. In the war based on a pack of lies, truth has never been welcomed.
Ask former Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his CIA wife Valerie Plame, and various State Department officals threatened by John Bolton. Read this report on how the White House punished people for speaking out the truth – the truth that young Americans were sent to war on fabricated allegations, abetted by British prime minister Tony Blair.
So to perpetuate the lie, President George Bush had to personally step in and reject the general's troops withdrawal declaration. Apparently the general was given a tongue lashing in private.
Bush and his cohorts don’t want to discuss any exit strategy as they fear that would convey an American weakening resolve, which so happens to be the reality. In my previous post, I mentioned about the trauma the heartland of America is experiencing when 21 young Americans from one town or particular area were decimated within a week by the insurgency in Iraq. It’s Vietnam all over again. Bush knows he has to get out, the sooner the better.
So Bush put on a brace face and pretended that the US would not withdraw troops from Iraq so soon as he would not betray the people of that country, which incidentally his air force had bombed to high heaven and his troops had shot to shreds.
Bush uttered "The terrorists cannot defeat us on the battlefield. The only way they can win is if we lose our nerve. That will not happen on my watch."
Brave talk which doesn’t reflect the true state of affairs. Bush realises he is rapidly losing support as Lyndon Johnson did during the Vietnam War.
Oh, by the way, the Bush Administration is now backtracking itself from the claim that it will spread US-style democracy like dominos as it realises the Shiites will impose a theocratic state in Iraq a la Iran, and there’s buggerall it can do about it.
Hmmm, what happened to that "Island of Freedom and Democracy?"
Iraqi women will be the biggest losers, thanks to the Bush neo-cons, particularly Paul Wolfowitz. Read my next post on this.
This must have been what the poor general was told. The top American commander in Iraq has been reprimanded by the big brass for speaking out the truth, that the US was tucking its tail between its hind legs and retreating from Iraq, and in a very surreptitious manner.
General George Casey, the US ground commander in Iraq, had stated that troop numbers could be reduced by 30,000 in the early months of next year down to just 100,000. But he didn't realise that it doesn’t do to let everyone know that. In the war based on a pack of lies, truth has never been welcomed.
Ask former Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his CIA wife Valerie Plame, and various State Department officals threatened by John Bolton. Read this report on how the White House punished people for speaking out the truth – the truth that young Americans were sent to war on fabricated allegations, abetted by British prime minister Tony Blair.
So to perpetuate the lie, President George Bush had to personally step in and reject the general's troops withdrawal declaration. Apparently the general was given a tongue lashing in private.
Bush and his cohorts don’t want to discuss any exit strategy as they fear that would convey an American weakening resolve, which so happens to be the reality. In my previous post, I mentioned about the trauma the heartland of America is experiencing when 21 young Americans from one town or particular area were decimated within a week by the insurgency in Iraq. It’s Vietnam all over again. Bush knows he has to get out, the sooner the better.
So Bush put on a brace face and pretended that the US would not withdraw troops from Iraq so soon as he would not betray the people of that country, which incidentally his air force had bombed to high heaven and his troops had shot to shreds.
Bush uttered "The terrorists cannot defeat us on the battlefield. The only way they can win is if we lose our nerve. That will not happen on my watch."
Brave talk which doesn’t reflect the true state of affairs. Bush realises he is rapidly losing support as Lyndon Johnson did during the Vietnam War.
Oh, by the way, the Bush Administration is now backtracking itself from the claim that it will spread US-style democracy like dominos as it realises the Shiites will impose a theocratic state in Iraq a la Iran, and there’s buggerall it can do about it.
Hmmm, what happened to that "Island of Freedom and Democracy?"
Iraqi women will be the biggest losers, thanks to the Bush neo-cons, particularly Paul Wolfowitz. Read my next post on this.
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