Name:     Michael L. S.   [E-Mail]
      Location: 
      Website:  Middle East Resource Center


 

HOME PAGE

---

RECENT POSTS:

Shabat shalom!

Well, well, it looks like the old teabags are trying to do some damage limitation after Iran caught eight of their "sailors" mucking about in their territorial waters. The newest spiel is that they had been FORCED to enter Iranian waters! That AFTER the Brit charge d'affaires in Tehran had confirmed that the boats had invaded Iran in an unauthorized and supposedly unintentional fashion. The perfidious albion. Nil'ag.

And in a further tidbit, apparently twenty television stations which aired that Super Bowl broadcast during which Ms Jackson flashed her breast may get fined US$ 27.5k. Because of the record number of complaints vis-a-vis the "incident". A reported half million complaints were logged. Oy gevalt!! What the hell is wrong with these people!!? In this day and age 500,000(!) busybodies nag about seeing a nipple on TV, in the US (not in eg. Syria) and they're taken seriously! It's just part of the bigger picture, one in which the United States seems to be taken over by religious fanatics, Xian fundamentalists. In olden days these kooks used to rant about their pet-hates in their little churches and whatnot. But now they've usurped the political establishment and are running the country and, worse, the world. If you don't think that is bad, you need look no father than Iran. Iran is the epitome of what occurs when religious fundamentalists take control of the legislature, executive and judiciary. You think the US is a far cry from Iran? In practical terms yes, just. But look at the trend: Mr. Bush is saturating the Supreme Court with his cronies: judges vehemently opposed to abortion, pornography, persons of alternative sexual dispositions, etc. The Congress is already populated with Republicans and greatly emasculated Democrats, and the latter are assaulted daily as being enemies of the state as are indeed all of us who demur at the neo-conservative view of the world. The administration has instigated more rigorous censorship of the media than ever, state control of individuals and groups, clandestine military and social operations and a barbarous treatment of dissenters (qv. Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo).

The US Army saved my father's life in the Second World War and there used to be no bigger fan of the States and all it stood for than myself. But they are going down the wrong road and that should be patently obvious to all decent-minded and informed individuals. It's not the fact that everyone from communist Cuba to modern-Nazi Taliban is opposing the US today; that is irrelevant. Problem are the lies, secrecy, intractability. Mr. Bush took his country to war having blatantly L-I-E-D about the reasons for doing so. Whether he did so calculatedly or not is immaterial; he never admitted his error(s) and no-one took the responsibility. This is not how democracy operates. And the saddest facet of all this is how many Americans have been taken in by the propaganda, sophistry, rhetoric and plain mendacity. There is always that section of the population which supports "their country" no matter what, who wrap themselves inside their flags and supports "their boys" [military] whatever they do. But the support for the war in Iraq and internal management of the country among the Americans is not confined to this nutty section; roughly half the citizens share the same view. Why? Simple: they are ignorant. Ignorance is worst disease imaginable. You can do to the ignorant nigh anything, and they will accept it. And how can they not be ignorant when (a) so many Americans are not interested in current affairs, (b) the media are very parsimonious in terms of international coverage, and (c) the selection of media outlets is itself dwindling? (Most cities in the US now have the choice of only one or two daily newspapers.) I hope to haShem Kerry wins the forthcoming election.

And speaking of religion, one group that really get my goat are the messianic "Jews". You know: the "Jews 4 Jesus" type of assholes. I've never been able to understand these fascists: why can they not savor their own beliefs--if they think they're so true and special--and leave the rest of us alone? What is it with these damn Xians (and a lot of Muslims, too) that they cannot but proselytize? They cause friction, problems for themselves and communities they're out to subvert, sorry: convert. These dumbfucks waste exorbitant amounts of money on religion. Just the messianic "Jews" waste over US$ 250 MILLION every YEAR on their "missionary" efforts. Yes, 250 million dollars per annum. Anyone want to hazard a guess what that dough would do in Africa? These people come to communities, many of them millennia old such as in India or Israel, and start telling the locals that they're gonna burn in their god's big barbecue for all eternity unless they start believing in Jesus. Of course, most locals take exception to that and beat the crap out of the missionaries. And then the latter say they're being persecuted because they believe in Jesus!!! I really abhor such people. They profess to be doing their "work" out of love and concern for people's souls. But they're actually the most intolerant and bigoted of assaches there are. No, Christians, Jesus will not save you or anyone else. He is dead, providing he ever even existed. Billions of people have died, are dying and will die without ever hearing the name Jesus, let alone anything else. If G-d had a plan to save the human kind, then that plan would have to be UNIVERSALLY known from the very beginning. How can you not see that!!? But that's not the point; if you want to believe Jesus loves you and wants you to do with your lives x, y or z and that makes you happy and fulfilled, good for you. But leave the rest of us the FUCK alone.

* * *

On to more cheerful topics. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is due to be published October. Alas, the PS2 version only but I'm sure the PC version will follow. Goodness, that's at least three months away. As a diehard GTA fan, this saddens me most. But the eventual joy when I get my hands on it will be all the greater. I can't wait!!!

Oh, a friend sent me an mp3 of Shir laShalom: the song sang by the late Yitzhak Rabin on the night of his murder. It's the first time I heard it and it is a Beautiful song. A shame nothing came of it, nor probably will...

Well, shavua tov to all.

>> send me your opinions by e-mail <<