top stories: 8/27-9/1/06
sorry for being away for so long the folks from whom i was stealing my wireless internet decided to move, so i have been without access for about a week. i considered (briefly) posting via my cell phone's browser, but ultimately opted against it; i thought my thumbs would get too tired from 'texting' my post. lucky for me (and you) rogue has been blogging up a storm...the man has a lot of words in his head and they want out!
anywho, here are this week's top stories.
hello. are you a fascist?:
if you criticize the war in iraq, you are...or at the very least you support fascism. that's what the president said. i have criticized the war, as has the majority of the country, and like my good friend and fellow contributor, the drunken rogue, i realize that this 'disapproving majority' are not truly in 'agreement' (they are the 'withdraw now camp and the 'send more troops and get this done' camp and probably a few in between) but this majority do see the war not being run as best it could. what they also see is an administration refusing to admit mistakes and apparently unwilling to adapt its strategy (that is the war's strategy not the PR strategy, which, i must say, is quite adaptable). i can understand the reluctance to admit mistakes, especially when fighting an ememy who can take any admission and use it as a soundbyte for terrorist propaganda, but what i cannot understand or accept is an administration (especially one i had a part in electing) telling me that i am a fascist because i disagree with the way they do things. i'm sorry, rumsfeld should have been gone years ago, even if he were a good defense secratary (a controversial statement to say the least) he has become a distraction and an easy target for those who oppose the president; he has also drawn the scorn of numerous ex-generals who served under him...there you go: i'm a fascist. if anything is unpatriotic it is accusing 60% of americans of fascist sympathies because they exercise their 1st amendment rights. the allowance to speak out against an administration's policies is what makes us america; call me a fascist, that's your right, but i'll be damned if you'll stop me from speaking out.
the UN approves peace-keeping force for darfur:
finally the something is being done about the problems in sudan. the security council yesterday approved a UN force (if those two words can be used in succession without sounding completely rediculous) to 'keep the peace' in darfur. basically, the council has said it's ok to send a few powder-blue-helmeted, practically-unarmed troops to the darfur region to tell the people there, 'hey, stop that genocide over there...no really, stop...dude, i'm serious, stop it...' which i suppose is better than not doing that. the next step, i guess, will be UN sacnctions, because those always work. there is one glaring problem with this whole 'peace-keeping force' thing: as soon as the security counncil accepted it lieutenant general omar hassan al-bashir (that would be sudan's president lieutenant general omar hassan al-bashir--also known for having the most prefix-ional titles is the whole of sudan) rejected it saying he prefers the peace-keepers presently supplied by the african union (an organization who, incidently, wants to transfer its duties to the UN...oh the complexity!). long story made short: the 'peace' in darfur, which (as i see it) has left nearly half a million dead and 4 times that homeless is not likely to be resolved with this brand of peace-keeping.
the UN and lebonese start taking over the border:
for the first time in 2 decades, the lebonese are protecting the southern lebonese border. that's pretty much it for that...good for them. controling your own country with yours own troops and government is a good thing.
guess who's not all that concerned with UN deadlines?:
give up? it's iran. i know, i know, who would have thought that a megalomaniacal middle-eastern dictator would disregard the UN so nonchalantly. i mean, what historical precedent do we have for such a thing? what else can i say? i am utterly stunned.
well, ok, folks you have been informed and inundated with my opinions, which are some of the best opinions, in my opinion.
anywho, here are this week's top stories.
hello. are you a fascist?:
if you criticize the war in iraq, you are...or at the very least you support fascism. that's what the president said. i have criticized the war, as has the majority of the country, and like my good friend and fellow contributor, the drunken rogue, i realize that this 'disapproving majority' are not truly in 'agreement' (they are the 'withdraw now camp and the 'send more troops and get this done' camp and probably a few in between) but this majority do see the war not being run as best it could. what they also see is an administration refusing to admit mistakes and apparently unwilling to adapt its strategy (that is the war's strategy not the PR strategy, which, i must say, is quite adaptable). i can understand the reluctance to admit mistakes, especially when fighting an ememy who can take any admission and use it as a soundbyte for terrorist propaganda, but what i cannot understand or accept is an administration (especially one i had a part in electing) telling me that i am a fascist because i disagree with the way they do things. i'm sorry, rumsfeld should have been gone years ago, even if he were a good defense secratary (a controversial statement to say the least) he has become a distraction and an easy target for those who oppose the president; he has also drawn the scorn of numerous ex-generals who served under him...there you go: i'm a fascist. if anything is unpatriotic it is accusing 60% of americans of fascist sympathies because they exercise their 1st amendment rights. the allowance to speak out against an administration's policies is what makes us america; call me a fascist, that's your right, but i'll be damned if you'll stop me from speaking out.
the UN approves peace-keeping force for darfur:
finally the something is being done about the problems in sudan. the security council yesterday approved a UN force (if those two words can be used in succession without sounding completely rediculous) to 'keep the peace' in darfur. basically, the council has said it's ok to send a few powder-blue-helmeted, practically-unarmed troops to the darfur region to tell the people there, 'hey, stop that genocide over there...no really, stop...dude, i'm serious, stop it...' which i suppose is better than not doing that. the next step, i guess, will be UN sacnctions, because those always work. there is one glaring problem with this whole 'peace-keeping force' thing: as soon as the security counncil accepted it lieutenant general omar hassan al-bashir (that would be sudan's president lieutenant general omar hassan al-bashir--also known for having the most prefix-ional titles is the whole of sudan) rejected it saying he prefers the peace-keepers presently supplied by the african union (an organization who, incidently, wants to transfer its duties to the UN...oh the complexity!). long story made short: the 'peace' in darfur, which (as i see it) has left nearly half a million dead and 4 times that homeless is not likely to be resolved with this brand of peace-keeping.
the UN and lebonese start taking over the border:
for the first time in 2 decades, the lebonese are protecting the southern lebonese border. that's pretty much it for that...good for them. controling your own country with yours own troops and government is a good thing.
guess who's not all that concerned with UN deadlines?:
give up? it's iran. i know, i know, who would have thought that a megalomaniacal middle-eastern dictator would disregard the UN so nonchalantly. i mean, what historical precedent do we have for such a thing? what else can i say? i am utterly stunned.
well, ok, folks you have been informed and inundated with my opinions, which are some of the best opinions, in my opinion.
posted by nicholas at 8:47 PM
3 Comments:
Those opinions come from "Apathy as Activism," they have to be good. Nice, informative post, Stereo. I really needed it, too. I've been so focused this week on the Bastrop High football story, that I haven't even thought about the fact that Iran's deadline passed. $50 to the soldier that finds Ahmad in a bunker!
bastrop high football, huh? you really need to move to a more 'cosmopolitan' location.
and only $50?
I'm sorry, when I said fifty dollars, I assumed everybody knew I was using pentagon math. $50 means fifty billion dollars.
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