Politics

"Uri Avnery is an Israeli writer and peace activist with Gush Shalom. He is one of the writers featured in The Other Israel: Voices of Dissent and Refusal. He is also a contributor to CounterPunch's hot new book The Politics of Anti-Semitism. He can be reached at: avnery-at-counterpunch-dot-org." Someone I've known for 50 years, himself a writer, who has for most of his life taken an active interest in Israel and the Jewish experience, sent me this a few days ago. I find it controversial and provocative. Do you have any reactions? Parts you would agree or disagree with? ===quote=== "Every Generation of Arabs Hates Israel More Than the Last" America's Rottweil…

This is inspired by that libertarian quiz from the other thread, and pertains specifically to the United States. Um, what's the problem with a national ID card? What exactly are the staunch opponents to such a plan (and apparently there are some) afraid of?

As I read this article by my hero, Victor Davis Hanson, I felt the warm glow that only comes when someone extremely smart, knowledgable and articulate encapuslates what I've already been thinking. Wow. This is my position in a nutshell. I wanted to stand up and applaud when I read:

Who won the Israel-Hezbollah conflict?

The Problem Plan B Over the Counter This is a tough one for me. I fall on the side of allowing younger girls access to the drug. If they are old enough and unsupervised enough to get pregnant, then they should be allowed to take Plan-B unsupervised.

Don Chipp founded the Australian Democrats in 1977. He was previously a member of the Liberal party, which forms a conservative coalition with the National party in the federal parliament. He had been active in removing censorship during the sixties. During the seventies he became disillusioned and around him formed a grassroots movement that led to the Democrats being formed as a roughly centrist party. Chipp dubbed the role of the party as to "keep the bastards honest". The Democrats never became a major party in their own right but often held the balance of power in the Senate. He handed over the reigns in 1988 and the party moved more to the left. There competed with …

Refer to: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/24/science/24stem.html?hp&ex=1156478400&en=297c7c19068ae597&ei=5094&partner=homepage Now I can't wait to see the backlash from hypocritical conservatives who will further broaden their views of the "sanctity of life" while they continue to support the death penalty. What do you all think of this new breakthrough? I think it's pretty hilarious myself and ironic in the sense that it (to me) is more disturbing than harvesting fetuses.

At the "Vicious Momma" blog http://viciousmomma.blogspot.com/2006/08/location-location-location-new.html Rae Ann, a 38 year old Tennessee woman who is mother of 3 kids, has been discussing her idea for Middle East peace.

I thought this was kind of an ironic twist on the whole Lieberman deal from a couple of weeks ago. Those who thought that Lieberman's loss in the Democratic primary was signallying a national trend towards the left due to the unpopularity of the war may want to take a look at this one. Granted Rhode Island is a much smaller state, but Lincoln Chaffee is as moderate as Joe Lieberman, if not more so (Chaffee, unlike Lieberman, was a member of the famous "Gang of 14" moderates who ironed out a bipartisan deal on nominations). Chaffee is a Republican that the Michael Moore and MoveOn.org crowd should like, because he's one of the few who actually voted against the war in I…

Fidel Castro seems to be recovering from his surgery, but even if he does, he is 80 years old and won't be around forever. It is also important to note that he has not specifically mentioned any plans to reassume power from his brother, and the rumors are that there are plans for a permanent transition. However you look at it, a new era for Cuba is close at hand. Or is it? Despite seemingly everyone's predictions, there are no signs of unusual unrest in Cuba whatsoever. Everything appears to be running smoothly, which seems to disprove the theory that American policy towards Cuba is based on, namely, that the regime is fragile and will die with its leader. So wha…

BEIRUT (AFP) - Nasrallah is a bad surname to have in Lebanon, as Israel tries to break the militant group Hezbollah. Fourteen-year-old Mohammed Hassan Nasrallah found out the hard way when Israeli airborne commandos seized his father and four other men in eastern Lebanon, even though they are unrelated to Hassan Nasrallah, the firebrand head of the Shiite Muslim movement. Mohammed was asleep, together with his father, mother, brothers and sisters, when Israeli elite troops broke into his home on August 2, breaking the doors and shattering the windows of their home in Hay al-Osseira near the eastern city of Baalbek. "They started shouting, they took us o…

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13528837/site/newsweek/ In short, Lieberman faces a serious challenge in August against a candidate who's almost entirely known as an anti-war candidate. Lamont, who is described here as a "wealthy Greenwich cable-television executive", is polling well and shows every sign of being able to beat Lieberman in August. But this quote is particularly revealing about Lamont's true nature: Nonsense. There's absolutely no indication that the Iraqi forces are either being held back or are holding themselves back in any way. None. Everything we know about the situation in Iraq indicates that they're standing up as fast as they possi…

This is an idea I've hadl ingering in the back of my mind for a little while now, and so I thought would just share it with you to see what you think of it. What if instead of going through the slow process of drawing up peacekeeping forces from individual countries; the United nations had its own army that it would readily be able to draw up and deploy as a peacekeeping force. The army would be made up entirely of volunteers from different parts of the globe and with absolutely no affiliations to any particular army or other organisations. It may even be helpful if they denounce allegiance to their own country. The force would have to be highly well trained and e…

American viewers may wish to tune in to 60 Minutes tonight. Mike Wallace will be interviewing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (No, I pasted it in from the Wikipedia, are you kidding?)

That other topic about a "UN Army" got me thinking. The UN is obviously a deeply flawed organization in a lot of ways, but I think that it's also done a whole lot of good in the world, and that the basic concept, a permanent organization where representatives from all nations can meet and work out their common problems in a neutral setting, is a wonderful idea. So I guess I'll just ask two pretty wide open questions that can hopefully generate some good discussion. If you had the power to reform and restructure the United Nations in any way you chose, what you do? Specifically, how would you deal with the more active aspects, where the UN as a whole makes resolutions?…

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/08/17/domesticspying.lawsuit.ap/index.html So what's next? Will the appeal uphold the ruling? Will anyone ever be held responsible?

Interesting op-ed piece by Florida Governor Jeb Bush and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in the Washington Post today regarding the No Child Left Behind act, which is apparently up for reauthorization soon. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/11/AR2006081101565.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns The gist of their piece is that the act should be reauthorized, and the following changes should be made to improve it: - Making the testing standards completely uniform so that states can't dumb it down - Track individual student progress to show improvements beyond whether or not X number of students have met the minimum goal (per FL & N…

Due to a re-classification of what qualifies as a planet, our solar system could have 12 orbiting planets, compared to the age old and accepted 9.

Queensland's health system has major problems. In the last couple of years; 1. Dr. Jayant Patel (Dr. Death) working at the Bundaberg Base Hospital was linked by Coronial Enquiry to the deaths of 13 patients. (More like 80 but we can only provide convicting evidence of 13) He was considered so dangerous by staff that nurses would actually hide patients from him. He's currently in hiding in the US after being flown out of Australia by the Queensland Health Dept. 2. The Casualty (E.R.) ward of Caboolture Hospital closed due to lack of staff. Victims of a car accident 200 yards from the front gate had to be transported to Brisbane (50 miles) for treatment. 3. A D…

George Allen "Macaca" This guy has a good chance at becoming a front runner for President in 08'. I wouldn't label him a racist, but what was he thinking? Why would you call someone a name and not understand the meaning? And the confederate flag? That is a sign of a low IQ. Should anyone vote for this guy?

yes that cap S is deliberate. every country has a National Debt it seems, so Who are we all endebted to? these often run into the Billions of <Insert local currency denomination>. we can`t ALL be in Debt can we:confused: and if we are, HOW? it just doesn`t seem possible unless I`m missing something.

Whenever I talk to a republican, everything is always someone else's fault and everyone is out to get them. I mean they control the presidency and the senate but for some reason the democrats are the ones to blame for all of the USA's problems. They have an excuse for everything. For example: the war is going badly and all the sudden its the democrats fault because the "liberal" media took away all their support. Im not a democrat just out to bash republicans (im not anything ATM; too young to vote) but this is just my observation.

hello saw this http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060815/od_nm/mideast_implants_dc just goes to show humor can still survive even in a time of war. and a laugh is sometimes still the best medicine mr d

Ok, perhaps not exactly politics, but I couldn't help make note of this. Apparently we've had our first "same-sex divorce", following the recent spate of controversial same-sex marriages. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060721/ap_on_re_us/gay_marriage_separation I got a sad little chuckle out of this contradiction: Um, yeah, okay....

So how does everyone feel about the recent TSA guidelines forbidding people from carrying on liquids/gels? How much safer are these rules actually making us, and is that added safety worth the freedom you have to sacrifice? I would say the most notible thing is that the terrorist attack which was allegedly foiled in Britain demonstrates a working system. Why then are the additional measures of confiscating all liquids/gels necessary? How far will they continue to regulate, and when should they stop?