Shlonkom Bakazay?

In what is seen as a surprise move to support religious violence on the other side of the world by selling heavy armament to a friendly military dictatorship, US President George Bush called Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to tell him about the decision. Bush remarked, "We just can't let you be successful over there in North West Asia Manny. You're tapped to lead the world along with Brazil, China, and Russia...and we just can't let that happen. Happy Good Friday!"

Indian government spokesman Sanjay Baru said Mr Singh had expressed "great disappointment", saying the move would exacerbate India's security concerns.

The move marks a change in US policy, which blocked the sale in 1990 over Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme.

(Thanks to Indymedia Beirut for the image)

One more political article from me. Because of the gravitas of yesterday's events I'd like to provide an excerpt for wandering viewers to stumble across.

A highly sensitive report released by the United Nations last night criticised the attempts by Lebanon's authorities to investigate the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri last month and demanded the creation of an independent international commission to get to the bottom of who perpetrated his murder.

There was also unsparing criticism of the Lebanese security teams in Beirut, saying that they showed "systematic negligence" in providing protection for the former prime minister. At the same time, the report points an accusing finger at the Syrian intelligence force, saying it bore primary responsibility for the breakdown of security and law and order when a huge car-bomb killed Mr Hariri and 17 other people.

The report was delivered to Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General, earlier yesterday by its principle author, the deputy Irish Police Commissioner, Peter Fitzgerald. But its public unveiling was delayed for several hours, suggesting nervousness inside the UN about the strength of its contents.

I really don't see any other way. When I speak of accountability, I want somebody to be held responsible for the deaths and injuries of 14 February. I would be a hypocrite if I haven't argued for accountability in multiple matters from multiple suspect parties. There will never be closure if we don't take measures to ensure further fact-finding. In fact, I'll go so far to say, there has to be an indpendent international invesitgation regardless of what steps any party takes from this point forward. Why is both Lebanon and Syria reluctant to embrace such an investigation? That remains the question. I've heard the argument such an investigation would never find the US or Israel guilty, but I just don't buy this arbitrary premise.

Isolate the matter. Make it about Hariri and the other lives affected by that day. And let the chips fall where they may. Yes, it sounds impossible at this point. But what doesn't make sense about investigating this tragedy further? What's wrong with trying to really figure out who the perpetrator was? It's so blatantly obvious the Lebanese government failed. They were given many chances. Now they must answer to the many Lebanese who will not rest until they are shown the door.

Perhaps I perpetuate the one-sided nature of this forum by making such a statement. What other direction shall we go, though? Not investigating things further? Accepting the Lebanese government's current results to the investigation? I have not heard one reasonable and pragmatic alternative.

So, I feel strongly about it and I believe there's enough room here for me to be frank.

out,
lim.

-Images, Words, and Understanding: Clarifying the Images (Ming Xiang)

-Images are the means to express ideas. Words [i.e., the texts] are the means to -explain the images. To yield up ideas completely there is nothing better than the -images, and to yield up the meaning of the images there is nothing better than -words. The words are generated by the images; thus one can ponder the words and so -observe what the images are. The images are generated by ideas; thus one can ponder -the images and so observe what the ideas are. The ideas are yielded up completely -by the images, and the images are made explicit by the words. Thus, since the words -are the means to explain the images, once one gets the images, he forgets the words, -and, since the images are the means to allow us to concentrate on the ideas, once -one gets the ideas, he forgets the images. Similarly, "the rabbit snare exists for -the sake of the rabbit--once one gets the rabbit, he forgets the snare; and the fish -trap exists for the sake of fish--once one gets the fish he forgets the trap." If -this is so, then the words are snares for the images, and the images are traps for -the ideas.

-Therefore someone who stays fixed on the words will not be one to get the images, -and someone who stays fixed on the images will not be one to get the ideas. The -images are generated by the ideas, but if one stays fixed on the images themselves, -then what he stays fixed on will not be images as we mean them here. The words are -generated by the images, but if one stays fixed on the words themselves, then what -he stays fixed on will not be words as we mean them here. If this is so, then -someone who forgets the images will be one to get the ideas, and someone who forgets -the words will be one to get the images. Getting the ideas is in fact a matter of -forgetting the images, and getting the images is in fact a matter of forgetting the -words. Thus, although the images were established in order to yield up ideas -completely, as images they may be forgotten.

609-610 B.C.E., Wang Bi ji jiaoshi ed.

I will be offering 5 minute podcasts of a 1960 Department of Defense (American) issued Arabic lessons in the coming days. They will be set to music I make on the fly. The last Irakast was definitely off, but I hope you enjoyed the old Lebanese record. Part one just includes the lesson with some more hearty and interesting beats and a fresher introduction.

There's no doubt it will take some time to the podkast running smoothly.

I spent a better part of the evening getting a really nice 15 minute package set to the best music I've done in some time. Being really exhausted I accidentally pulled the plug while it was saving so I lost the whole damn thing. I almost blew a gasket. (is "gasket" right?) I was very angry, but would not rest until I could bring you this 5 minute piece in raw form. Perhaps the simplicity of it works better than my super-edited version I carelessly lost and wasted my time on earlier. An=yway, I am thinking 5 minute clips will be more pleasing to me and more of a gimmick to get you to come back to my blog. Good for you, good for me.

So this is all me and the Department of Defense. Your tax-payer dollars post-Kennedy years had nothing to do with this project.

Enjoy learning while you walk around with those silly white earphones. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to have breakfast and pass out for a few hours.

Eat your heart out Rummy.
Limmmmmmmmy

Irakast 4, Liminal Radio Presents the Department of Defence as my bitch

Show: 4.0
Length: 5:43
Format: mp3
Bit rate: 128 kbs
Size: 6.5 mb

Subscribe to the best podcast in the world by clicking below.

Oh My God she's doing some sort of chicken dance thing and the music is hot.

Three Words. Eastern Goddess raps.

All right, just because I'm not blogging doesn't mean I can't come up with some new ideas to educate you.

Why does your podkast still suck?

I must preface this all by saying a couple things. First, I need a new mic. My current mic was given to me, so of course it's a piece of shit. So, excuse the mic problems. Second, this is a trial run with my new set-up. I may re-do it. The music I made via my 505 is BS, but at least it lets you tap your foot.

What's in this crap podkast?

In the following podkast I give you some songs off my family's old record collection. The record featured is from Lebanon in the mid-sixties, called "Village Wedding". It's so old that the cover is in black and white. My mom brought this all the way from Lebanon. It's not one of those stupid scammed buys from a used record store...been in my family for at least 40 years. And it's got that old typewriter font. Sweeeet. The other record is from 1960. It's called "Arabic: Language Familiarization Course". The cover includes "Prepared by Educational Services for The Department of Defense." Well, at least they were trying in 1960. I'd say we should re-issue the "Records not Bombs" policy. So this, on the other hand, is a particularly peculiar piece of vinyl I procured from a used shop a while ago. Seeing as it's public property, I want to offer it as a lesson to you language-dumb infidels. Anuh'mah'nah PEE AH!

Stop BS'ing me and give me the run-down on this podkast you whining asshole:

Ok, fine.

In summary, this podkast is the hipster way you can learn a few words of Arabic. You're occupying my country, so you might as well learn something.

If there is ever a demand for my crap, I will offer it in OGG. This will cut the file size in half. For now, I'm doing this for the spoiled western world and Japan/South Korea ;) ...and the lucky few in the Near-east with broadband or the time/patience.

Enjoy.

Irakast 3, Liminal Radio is Born Unto This Dispicable Earth

Show: 3.0
Length: 17:14
Format: mp3
Bit rate: 128 kbs
Size: 19.7 mb

SHHHHHH...I'm still on my break.


* * *

lmost two months have passed since Iraq's elections, and people there are understandably impatient to see a new government take office. But the real problem isn't the delay. Lengthy haggling over cabinet posts and other turf issues was inevitable among fledging politicians with no previous experience of democratic give-and-take. What is far more troubling are the significant sections of the Iraqi population whose rights could be sacrificed when the Shiite religious parties and autonomy-minded Kurdish leaders who were the election's biggest winners cut their final deal. Those who need to worry most at this point are women, Sunni Arabs and secular Iraqis of both sexes.

Saddam Hussein's sadistic and murderous dictatorship was no feminist paradise. But Iraqi women still managed to maintain access to educational, professional and personal opportunities denied to many of their sisters in neighboring Arab and Islamic countries. Now the future of these freedoms is in serious question. The dominant bloc of Shiite religious parties, along with their candidate for prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, want Iraq's new constitution to be directly inspired by conservative Islamic religious teachings derived from the Koran.

The secular Kurdish parties whose agreement is also needed to form a governing majority have the most leverage to resist these religious pressures. But the Kurds are focused mainly on maximizing their own region's independence. They seem far more interested in spending their political capital attaching the oil-rich city of Kirkuk to the territory of a future Kurdistan than in protecting the rights of secular Iraqis. Already, the Shiites seem set to control the powerful Interior Ministry, which will run major police agencies. If the Kurds also concede to them ministries like education and women's affairs, they could be consigning Iraqi women to a life of subjugation and millions of secular Iraqis, male and female, to a bleak, Iran-like future.

The other unspoken issue haunting these negotiations is the violently estranged Sunni Arab minority. With very few representative Sunnis now at the table, finding a way to recognize a legitimate Sunni leadership in the government will require some creative ingenuity. Yet until Shiite and Kurdish leaders recognize their own vital interest in making this happen, no progress is likely. With a new, permanent constitution due to be drawn up later this year, time is rapidly running out.

It is now out of the question for Washington to try and micromanage Iraqi political development. That would mock the elections and the claims of Iraqi self-government. But with more than 1,500 American troops already dead in Iraq and the next Iraqi government clearly dependent on the protection of more than 100,000 United States troops, Washington is not just entitled, but obliged to make clear America's interest in a free, democratic and unified Iraq. This country cannot be complicit in allowing haggling politicians to subordinate those goals to their own narrow religious, separatist or divisive agendas.

Duke Wen of Zhu divined by the turtle shell to determine if he should move his capital to the city of Yi. The historian who conducted the divination replied, "The move will benifit the people but not their ruler."

The ruler of Zhu said, "If it benifits the people, it benifits me. Heavan gave birth to the people and set up a ruler in order to benifit them. If the people enjoy the benifit, I am bound to share in it."

Those around the ruler said, "If by taking warning from the divination you can prolong your destiny, why not do so?"

The ruler replied, "My destiny lies in nourishing the people. Whether death comes to me early or late is merely a matter of time. If the people will benifit thereby, then nothing could be more auspicious than to move the capital."

In the end he moved the capital to Yi. In the fifth month Duke Wen of Zhu died.

The noble person remarks: He understood the meaning of destiny.

(189)

-Between mindless distractions like steroids and Schiavo, divisiveness of racists and -power-mongers living amongst us, knowing destruction of the physical and mental -environment we live in for short-term gain, and the constant meddling of religion in politics, -you'd think leaders today didn't know the difference between what's important and what's -wasteful. I'm sure of one thing more than anything today. Real heros, leaders, and role models -are neither those xtra large imaginary people in the news nor are they the politicians made -more famous by blunders than successes. Real leaders are those usually at home reading to -they're children, sending an email or making a phone-call of encouragement and care, and -doing little more than truly loving their neighbor. Those who are selfish in their actions -and/or regards of others will enjoy nothing but my contempt.

Have a nice day.

This is the story in the UK Times that describes in gruesome detail the deaths of the students Zeyad spoke of in the post I posted in full because of its importance.

Here are the last three paragraphs in his initial post on the matter. As relevant as ever...

No reaction yet from the Governorate council, the police, or the British forces in Basrah. Thousands of students have been demonstrating in front of the Basrah Governorate building in Asharr for the last three days, shouting 'No to political Islam', 'No to the new tyranny' and 'No to Sadr'. The police (which is loyal to Da'wa in Basrah) reportedly attacked the students in order to disperse the demonstrations.

All this while some people are campaigning for Sistani to receive the Nobel peace prize. One can't help but wonder if these kinds of events are what the Islamists have in store for us when they insist on 'respecting the Islamic identity of Iraq'.

They can blame Jordan, Syria, the Ba'ath, Salifis, Wahhabis as much as they want, but they cannot utter a single word about the old new medieval Inquisition we have to deal with every day, under the sanctity of Sistani and his ilk. The new Taliban.

Now the following is the Times story with all the atrocious details of the story first reported by Zeyad. Bloggers say in unison, "Why'd it take you so long MainStreamMedia?" It's both terribly tragic and an important event. There's also a USAToday story, too.

***

March 23, 2005 By Catherine Philp Students are beaten to death for playing music as Shia militiamen run amok

The students had begun to lay out their picnic in the spring sunshine when the men attacked.

“There were dozens of them, armed with guns, and they poured into the park,” Ali al-Azawi, 21, the engineering student who had organised the gathering in Basra, said.

“They started shouting at us that we were immoral, that we were meeting boys and girls together and playing music and that this was against Islam.

“They began shooting in the air and people screamed. Then, with one order, they began beating us with their sticks and rifle butts.” Two students were said to have been killed.

Standing over them as the blows rained down was the man who gave the order, dressed in dark clerical garb and wearing a black turban. Ali recognised him immediately as a follower of Hojatoleslam Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shia cleric. Ali realised then that the armed men were members of Hojatoleslam al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army, a private militia that fought American forces last year and is now enforcing its own firebrand version of Islam.

The picnic had run foul of the Islamist powers that increasingly hold sway in the fly-blown southern city, where religious militias rule the streets, forcing women to don the veil and closing down shops that sell alcohol or music.

In the election in January, the battle between secular and religious forces in Basra came down to the ballot box. The main Shia alliance triumphed with 70 per cent of the province’s vote, most of the rest going to a secular rival.

That victory has brought to a head the issue of whether Iraq’s new constitution will adopt Islamic law — or Sharia — as most religious Shia leaders desire.

In Basra, however, Islamic militias already are beginning to apply their own version of that law, without authority from above or any challenge from the police.

Students say that there was nothing spontaneous about the attack. Police were guarding the picnic in the park, as is customary at any large public gathering, but allowed the armed men in without any resistance.

One brought a video camera to record the sinful spectacle of the picnic, footage of which was later released to the public as a warning to others.

It showed images of one girl struggling as a gunman ripped her blouse off, leaving her half-naked. “We will send these pictures to your parents so they can see how you were dancing naked with men,” a gunman told her. Two students who went to her aid were shot — one in the leg, the other twice in the stomach. The latter was said to have died of his injuries. Fellow students say that the girl later committed suicide. Another girl who was severely beaten around the head lost her sight.

Far from disavowing the attack, senior al-Sadr loyalists said that they had a duty to stop the students’ “dancing, sexy dress and corruption”.

“We beat them because we are authorised by Allah to do so and that is our duty,” Sheik Ahmed al-Basri said after the attack. “It is we who should deal with such disobedience and not the police.”

After escaping with two students, Ali reached a police station and asked for help. “What do you expect me to do about it?” a uniformed officer asked.

Ali went to the British military base at al-Maakal and pleaded with the duty officer at the gate. “You’re a sovereign country now. We can’t help. You have to go to the Iraqi authorities,” the soldier replied.

When the students tried to organise demonstrations, they were broken up by the Mehdi Army. Later the university was surrounded by militiamen, who distributed leaflets threatening to mortar the campus if they did not call off the protests.

When the militia began to set up checkpoints and arrest students, Ali fled to Baghdad.

A British spokesman said that troops were unable to intervene unless asked to by the Iraqi authorities.

Colonel Kareem al-Zeidy, Basra’s police chief, pleaded helplessness. “What can I do? There is no government, no one to give us authority,” he said. “The political parties are the most powerful force in Basra right now.”

The students have begun an indefinite strike, but fear that there is little that they can do to stop the march of violent fundamentalism. Saleh, 21, another engineering student, said: “If this is how they deal with the most educated in Basra, how would they deal with ordinary people? The soul of our city is at stake.”

This was posted on Lebanese Blogger Forum. Whenever I feel it's important crosspost, I will. Reminds me of my disturbed Agora days. Anyway, this was a terrible tragedy. Please read the post. I wish I could bring the comments over from LBF, too. I urge you to click the above link if you'd like to view the comments.

Zeyad has updated this post again. If you want to read it from the beginning, go to Zeyad's page. If you're familiar with the story and you want to read the newest update only, you'll find it directly below.

Another Update: Here is a detailed account of the incident from the Times which confirms the death of the two students, and here is a Yahoo News story.
There have been rumours that nobody died from the attacks but it seems that these rumours originated from sympathetic Islamic parties and their supporters, all of whom are Shi'ite, and for some bizarre reason they are denying that it was a Christian girl that died, but a Muslim one, as if that is going to make it any less outrageous. The same people who rant about Wahhabi and Salafi crimes everyday. Pot meet kettle.

Friends from Basrah say the sit-in at Basrah university is still in effect, with Sadr's militia now threatening to bomb the campus with mortars if the students do not return to their classes. Governmental authorities and the police force in Basrah have publicly admitted that they are helpless and incapable of doing anything to stop the Sadrists.

Actually, all this is for the good of Iraq. At least the Iraqis can now realise what kind of 'progressive' and 'blessed' monsters they have elected to govern them and write their constitution.

Update: The post has been updated. Thank you Zeyad.

The Governor of Basrah appeared on Fayhaa tv yesterday claiming that the problem with Sadr's office was resolved peacefully. How exactly was this achieved? The esteemed Governor (who is a member of Da'wa) met with representatives from Sadr's office under the mediation of the Shia Islamic parties in Basrah (Da'wa, SCIRI, Fadheela, Thar Allah) and it appears that Sadr's aides had agreed to 'punish the guilty parties under a special religious court that would convene for this purpose' and to compensate the students and to return all stolen items to the students. The Governor then cheerfully met with the family of another Christian girl who was badly injured, 'generously' offering her free treatment in any country she chooses.

No mention of the rule of law here. No involvement of Basrah's civil courts at all. The whole incident was mopped up in an Iraqi-style tribal-religious meeting, but this time on the Governorate level. The guilty parties were sinisterly assigned the job of punishing themselves. A great lesson in democracy. But then, no one was punished for the executions and torture at religious courts in Najaf the last time anyway.

What is even worse, the official statement from Sadr's office in Basrah. It asks for the names of the students that were 'allegedly mistreated' in order to compensate them. And listen to this; 'Sadr's office in Basrah offers to provide the universities of Basrah with groups to protect the students in their future field trips.' This following Sheikh As'ad Al-Basri's fiery statements that the students had 'disobeyed his orders, and the stick was for those who disobeyed,' alasa limen asa. He also alleged that the students had shouted 'No to Islam' in their demonstrations this week, insolently adding that the students should be punished for their 'blasphemy'.

The Governor literally appointed Sadr's office as judge, witness and law-enforcer. We might even say that the Sadrists were in fact rewarded for their vile act. What would the Ministry of Higher Education say about this? Or the Ministry of Interior? Or our ludicrous Human Rights Ministry, which only seems interested in what kind of cookies Saddam is having with his tea, or in Ali Hassan Majid's nocturnal toilet activities.

The students of Basrah have made their demands clear; bringing the Sadrist militiamen to a public trial in the presence of representatives from Basrah's student groups, banning Islamist armed groups from entering campus or running Islamist student groups, and the dissolution of the infamous 'Security Committee' which operates in most of Basrah's colleges, and which is reminiscient of the Ba'ath's 'University Security' but taking a Shi'ite Islamic appearance instead of a fascist nationalistic one.

Student groups from Baghdad, Arbil and Suleimaniya have sent statements of support to Basrah. Incidentally, four students were injured in Suleimaniya during demonstrations that have been taking place for the second week in row against the privatisation of educational institutions in the Kurdish region.

Still no condemnation from the the Hawza, when the attack against the students was done in its name.

They're protesting in Basra now. Another healthy reaction to madness. Thanks to LB for the picture.


Here's Zeyad's post. It needs no introduction. I have no energy to react yet. Go to his blog here. Again, being blog-PC is hardly a concern of mine in such an instance.

No one seems to have reported the latest events in Basrah. Not any of the news services or the blogs.

Students of the Basrah and Shatt Al-Arab universities in Basrah city have been on strike for the last three days as a reaction to the attack last week by Sadrists and Mahdi Army militiamen on tens of students organising a field trip or a picnic at Al-Andalus park, downtown Basrah.

Hooded men assaulted the students with rubber cables and truncheons which resulted in the death of a Christian girl, Zahra Ashour, and another student who came to her rescue after militiamen had tore off her clothes and were beating her to death. He was shot in the head.

Students say that their belongings, such as mobile phones, cameras, stereo players and loudspeakers, were stolen or smashed to pieces by the militiamen. Girl students not wearing headscarves, most of them Christian, were severely beaten and at least 20 students were kidnapped and taken to Sadr's office in Al-Tuwaisa for 'interrogation' and were only released late at night.

Students also say the police and British soldiers were nearby but did not intervene.

A Sheikh As'ad Al-Basri, one of Sadr's aides in Basrah, stated that the 'believers' of the Mahdi Army did what they did in an act of 'divine intervention' in order to punish the students for their 'immoral and outrageous behaviour' during the 'holy month of Muharram, while the blood of Imam Hussein is yet to dry.' He added that he had sent the 'group of believers' to observe and photograph the students, and on witnessing them playing loud music, 'the kind they play in bars and discos', and openly talking to female students, the 'believers had to straighten things out'.

No reaction yet from the Governorate council, the police, or the British forces in Basrah. Thousands of students have been demonstrating in front of the Basrah Governorate building in Asharr for the last three days, shouting 'No to political Islam', 'No to the new tyranny' and 'No to Sadr'. The police (which is loyal to Da'wa in Basrah) reportedly attacked the students in order to disperse the demonstrations.

All this while some people are campaigning for Sistani to receive the Nobel peace prize. One can't help but wonder if these kinds of events are what the Islamists have in store for us when they insist on 'respecting the Islamic identity of Iraq'.

They can blame Jordan, Syria, the Ba'ath, Salifis, Wahhabis as much as they want, but they cannot utter a single word about the old new medieval Inquisition we have to deal with every day, under the sanctity of Sistani and his ilk. The new Taliban

Ammar Abdulhamid speaks from Syria. Wise words. To continue reading this post, click "Mainline" or here! What voice and eloquence!

American policies are not set in stone. There have been thousands of documents like Clean Break that never amounted to anything but wishful thinking. They were either shelved in favor of other policy options or were simply overtaken by events. Those in the Middle East who fear the “ominous” content of Clean Break should realize that the implementation of it, no matter how influential its authors seem to be at this stage, could, nonetheless, be seriously undermined through the adoption of a more pragmatic and proactive attitude by the regimes and parties concerned.

Dealing with US policy with a sense of fatalism will only justify the basic claims and arguments of the Clean Break advocates, namely that most ME societies, especially traditional Arab societies, along with the ruling regimes they have spewed and regurgitated over the years, are simply irreformable, irredeemable, unsalvageable, and, in short, incapable of working out their own salvation. As such, external interference is a must even if, on the short to intermediate run, it means chaos. For a chaotic dynamism is much better, from their view, than static nihilism.

In all this, America, regardless of where it is located with regard to this at a given moment, is all too simply and earnestly seeking to achieve its own interests. What else?

For politics, frequent recourse to moral justifications notwithstanding, is an amoral science par excellence. Only victims of this science tend to complain about its nature and applications. The beneficiaries, on the other hand, will simply state that this is the way things have been since time immemorial.

For instance, all Arab nationalists are willing to condemn American imperialism but none is willing to condemn the Arab imperialist experiment that took place under the banner of Islam. We can all understand the special circumstance and context of the imperialist ventures of our forefathers, but we are completely unwilling to fathom the logic behind the imperialist ventures perpetrated against us at any given moment, so long as we remain the victims thereof. This is only natural of course. No one likes to be a victim.

Follow this link to hear Tariq Ali interview Noam Chomsky on 26 January 2005.

There's also a reading.

"If we do not believe in freedom of speech for those we despise, we do not believe in it at all." - N. Chomsky

Stop the war

Stop the war

Stop the war

Stop the war damnit

This is a dedication to Kevin Drum and the everlasting beauty of meme-hood:


All the world's problems...America might invade Iran, North Korea is still building nuclear bombs, the UN and the World Bank is getting ready to implode, AIDS is rampant, we're merrily running a 427 billion dollar budget deficit (that doesn't include expenses in Iraq) and close to 8 trillion dollars in national debt, unemployment continues to creep upward, and through it all we're still being led by a man who seems unable to string two coherent sentences together. It's enough to just make you scream and scream and scream and...

But then I turn around and look through the doorway. She sure doesn't seem to care, does she? It's 68 degrees inside, she doesn't need food, no evangelical Christians around to deny her right to exist, and no trips to the scrap-yard are planned. So what's to worry about? Not to mention, she probably doesn't give a rat's ass about what you think or how soon humans will destroy the earth.

Also, cyborgs are always in some way artificially "living".

See Kevin's orginal post that I scammed this from here. Note: In case you were wondering, Kevin Drum is the first person to use "Cat-Blogging".

Shlonkom Bakazay, embracing the future one cyborg at a time.

Signing off for the day,

Liminal

And watch him saying, "The secretary's building has 38 stories. If it lost ten stories today, it wouldn't make a bit of difference." He's gonna be such a swell ambassador to the UN!

You can also download and spread this video elsewhere. It's important to show the rest of the world what America is truly like. And doesn't he seem like such a kind man? Just adorable, if you ask me.

They will have to find something else to play with.

***

I'd like to thank Praktike and chez Nadezhda for the picture of Hugo Chavez accepting Iranian President Khatemi in Venezuala. I thought it would be nice to switch up gears a bit. A little bit of that typical "Sunday inevitable alliance blogging".

I'm getting used to this blogging thing after all. Who knows, maybe someday I'll exit my denial of being a blogger. By the way, what the hell is up with all the Cat blogging on Fridays. I love cats. But is it because they imply laziness and resting from blogging is necessary? I assume this much, but I don't want to say it's this reason for sure unless I have somebody give me the root reason for it.

Ok then! I hope everybody out there is doing well! I've got serious email lag. I'm talking one month behind. So, please accept my apologies and don't think I'm ignoring you. I'm just in the middle of a lot right now. My best wishes to you and yours!

Peace!

LIMMMMMMMMinal

I will celebrate this by mourning the unnecessary deaths of the sons and daughters of both America and Iraq. I will celebrate by mourning the unecessary humiliation caused by Abu Ghraib and other system problems that have yet to have any person to hold account for. I mourn the overall lack of accountability in such matters and the lack of respect for the world you continue to show by appointing such anathemas of internationalism to two important positions, John Bolton and Paul Wolfowitz. I mourn the policies that continue to destroy my people. And I mourn your wishes to hijack Lebanese freedom to meet your own ends. I mourn the fact that Donald Rumsfeld is not in jail yet. He deserves much worse than being held up as a great protector of the nation. Similarly, Dick Cheney needs to be held to account for his continued lies about the connections between Iraq and Al Qaeda. If you could say there is a walking self-fulfilling prophecy in your administration it would be him. It appears as though Cheney's sick-waking dream was to make sure there was a connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda, when there clearly was not. Cheney has operated as Al Qaeda's PR man in Iraq, in effect. So, today I mourn the incompetence that you people continue to carry yourselves with while you have no regard for human rights when appointing the fool for torture, Alberto Gonzales. You seem to only want make the Arab world angier and angier. So, if this is your goal, you're acheiving it magnificently. One more thing: Leave Lebanon alone. You've caused enough problems elsewhere. Do not think you are the reason Lebanese are wanting to be rid of Syria. Because you're not. So, get out of Iraq Mr. Bush. And Syria, get out of Lebanon. Do not use violence to justify your stay. I knew it would come to this. I said on 14 February. So my advice to you Mr. President and you Mr. Al'Assad or J.Sayyid or Rostum... Don't play with fire or you will burn. Somebody must be held accountable for the atrocities you continue to committ in order to secure privatization of Iraq's Oil and for political points in the Near East. And somebody must be held to account for murdering 18 people in Lebanon on 14 February. There must be an international investigation if we hope Lebanon to regain its calm. TO BOTH OF YOU: You should heed the people's wishes before you try and selfishly heed your own. We're sick of all the war, all the violence.

I have much more to say about what I mourn on this anniversary of your illegal war. But right now I mourn your short-sightedness most of all. Your lack of vision is alarming and is destroying the world.

Yay Iceland!!!

Iceland is to give Bobby Fischer a special foreigners' passport and rights to residence. This is great news and a good resolution for this man of conscience and principle.