It seems that some dark force, somewhere is leaving the back door open so the killer can get in...
What would you say if I tell you that the US government is giving a contract to screen US bound cargo to a chinese company?
There's something very uncomfortable to know that America has become so dependant of China. America can't screen their ports by itself ladies and gentleman.
And then there's the issue with the borders... open as open one can be..,
Friday, March 31, 2006
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Exposing the Da Vinci HOAX
Thanks LiveScience.com for this note.
The record bestseller, Dan Brown’s 2004 The Da Vinci Code, has renewed interest in the quest for the Holy Grail, restyling the medieval legend for a public that often gorges itself on a diet of pseudoscience, pseudo-history, and fantasy.
Unfortunately, the book is largely based on obscure, forged documents that have now deceived millions.The adventure tale begins with Paris police summoning Robert Langdon, an Indiana Jones type, to the Louvre to view the corpse of curator Jacques Saunier. Saunier has been murdered in bizarre circumstances. Soon Langdon and beautiful cryptanalyst Sophie Neveau lead readers on a page-turning treasure hunt across France and England, propelled by a series of puzzles and clues. Along the way, the pair search for a hidden "truth" that challenges mainstream Christianity. Brown drew heavily on the 1982 bestseller, Holy Blood, Holy Grail, written by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln (1996), with Lincoln as the conceptual author.
Brown’s novel is predicated on a conspiracy theory involving Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Supposedly the old French word sangreal is explained not as san greal ("holy grail") but as sang real ("royal blood"). Although that concept was not current before the late Middle Ages, Holy Blood, Holy Grail argues that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, with whom he had a child, and even that he may have survived the Crucifixion. Jesus’ child, so the "non-fiction" book claims, thus began a bloodline that led to the Merovingian dynasty, a succession of kings who ruled what is today France from 481 to 751.
Evidence of the holy bloodline was supposedly found in a trove of parchment documents, discovered by Bérenger Saunière, the priest of Rennes-le-Château in the Pyrenees. The secret had been kept by a shadowy society known as the Priory of Sion which harked back to the era of the Knights Templar and claimed among its past "Grand Masters" Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, and Victor Hugo.
Brown seizes on Leonardo—borrowing from "The Secret Code of Leonardo Da Vinci," chapter one of another work of pseudo-history titled "The Templar Revelation." This was co-authored by "researchers" Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince, whose previous foray into nonsense was their claim that Leonardo had created the Shroud of Turin—even though that forgery appeared nearly a century before the great artist and inventive genius was born!
Among the "revelations" of Picknett and Prince, adopted by Dan Brown in The Da Vinci Code, is the claim that Leonardo’s fresco, Last Supper, contains hidden symbolism relating to the sang real secret. They claim, for instance, that St. John in the picture (seated at the right of Jesus) is actually a woman—Mary Magdalene!—and that the shape made by "Mary" and Jesus is "a giant, spreadeagled ‘M,’" supposedly confirming the interpretation. By repeating this silliness, Brown provokes critics to note that his characterizations reveal ignorance about his subject.
Alas, the whole basis of The Da Vinci Code—the "discovered" parchments of Rennes-le-Château, relating to the alleged Priory of Sion—were part of a hoax perpetrated by a man named Pierre Plantard. Plantard commissioned a friend to create fake parchments which he then used to concoct the bogus priory story in 1956. (See Carl E. Olson and Sandra Miesel, The Da Vinci Hoax, 2004.)
Of course, Dan Brown—with the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Templar Revelation—was also duped by the Priory of Sion hoax, which he in turn foisted onto his readers. But he is apparently unrepentant, and his apologists point out that The Da Vinci Code is, after all, fiction, although at the beginning of the novel, Brown claimed it was based on fact. Meanwhile, despite the devastatingly negative evidence, The Da Vinci Code mania continues. Perhaps Brown should go on his own quest—for the truth.
Joe Nickell is Senior Research Fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal and "Investigative Files" columnist for the organization’s science magazine, Skeptical Inquirer.
Related news:
* A mock trail for "The Da Vinci Code".
* Opus Dei's response to the Da Vinci's Code.
* Dan Brown's trial against the people of Holy Blood, Holy Grail is closed. Read more here.
* The author Holy Blood, Holy Grail wrote a new novel in order to pray for a Da Vinci sized payday. Read more here.
My commentary: I guess these people are not the first one nor would be the last one to try to profit from Jesus and distortionate his coming to this world... *sight*
Monday, March 27, 2006
WHAT CASEY SHEEHAN DIED FOR
Tribute to Casey Sheehan by Buck Sargent. A piece of history in the making. Not from the news companies but from an American soldier. From one American Hero to another.
From Buck Sargent's blog:
"... Cindy, says Mayor Najim, let not your heart be hardened. Be not bitter, but proud. None that walk among us are immortal, and to bury a child is forever a tragedy. Yet your son lost his life in the most honorable manner possible. He died so that others may live.
I’d say that puts him in pretty good company." Buck Sargent is making reference of Jesus in this part. God bless.
"... Ours has become an instant gratification nation, the countdown to ADD-Day stalking the horizon. Heading into its fourth year, the Iraq War has now lasted longer than most celebrity marriages. (Correction: Desert Storm lasted longer than most celebrity marriages). It has been said that the Vietnam War was lost on television, and that was when there were only three channels and they all screamed: RETREAT! But soldiers don’t watch the news, we make it. That is why the MSM refuse to tell our story, that is why they continue to poison the well back home, and that is why soldiers have taken it upon ourselves to “tell it like it is” on the internet.
Casey Sheehan's mother asks, “What did my son die for?” as she hops the globe with her traveling Cirque du Solemnity. His actions that fateful day provide the answer. Her son -- regrettably, now the second most famous Sheehan -- and the thousands of others like him, died for their brothers in arms. For their families at home. For their country. For a people they had little in common with other than a desire to live free from fear. For children that were not their own, but that reminded them of home. For the same thing forgotten Americans have long died for in forgotten places like Takur Gahr, Mogadishu, Hue City, Inchon, the Ardennes, Cold Harbor, and Bunker Hill."
Buck Sargent has some great videos too. Read the whole piece here.
Cheers,
From Buck Sargent's blog:
"... Cindy, says Mayor Najim, let not your heart be hardened. Be not bitter, but proud. None that walk among us are immortal, and to bury a child is forever a tragedy. Yet your son lost his life in the most honorable manner possible. He died so that others may live.
I’d say that puts him in pretty good company." Buck Sargent is making reference of Jesus in this part. God bless.
"... Ours has become an instant gratification nation, the countdown to ADD-Day stalking the horizon. Heading into its fourth year, the Iraq War has now lasted longer than most celebrity marriages. (Correction: Desert Storm lasted longer than most celebrity marriages). It has been said that the Vietnam War was lost on television, and that was when there were only three channels and they all screamed: RETREAT! But soldiers don’t watch the news, we make it. That is why the MSM refuse to tell our story, that is why they continue to poison the well back home, and that is why soldiers have taken it upon ourselves to “tell it like it is” on the internet.
Casey Sheehan's mother asks, “What did my son die for?” as she hops the globe with her traveling Cirque du Solemnity. His actions that fateful day provide the answer. Her son -- regrettably, now the second most famous Sheehan -- and the thousands of others like him, died for their brothers in arms. For their families at home. For their country. For a people they had little in common with other than a desire to live free from fear. For children that were not their own, but that reminded them of home. For the same thing forgotten Americans have long died for in forgotten places like Takur Gahr, Mogadishu, Hue City, Inchon, the Ardennes, Cold Harbor, and Bunker Hill."
Buck Sargent has some great videos too. Read the whole piece here.
Cheers,
Belarus isolates opposition leader
Any resemblance with Venezuelan reality is just pure coincidence.
Recommended to read while playing the national anthem of Belarus.
By C.J. Chivers The New York Times
MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2006
MOSCOW: A detained opposition leader in Belarus faces a criminal charge and has been denied prison visits by a doctor and a lawyer, according to his wife. Minsk, the Belarussian capital, has fallen quiet after a violent police crackdown against anti-government demonstrators.
Alexander Kazulin, who had challenged the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, in an election earlier this month, was seized Saturday when riot police officers with batons clashed with a column of peaceful protesters who were marching to a prison where opposition members have been jailed.
Kazulin was held Sunday at a detention center well outside of Minsk on a charge of hooliganism, said his wife, Irina Kazulin. The charge can carry penalties ranging from a fine to several years in prison.
Irina Kazulin said she visited the jail, but was not allowed to see her husband or speak with him by phone. She said she demanded that he be examined by a doctor and allowed to consult with a lawyer, but was told by a prison official that there would be no visits before Monday.
"Human rights do not work on Sunday in Belarus," she said by telephone. She said she was not sure whether her husband had been injured.
Opposition members said that at least three people were in serious medical condition with either skull fractures or spinal injuries after allegedly being beaten by the police when the march was broken up on Saturday.
One man with a skull injury had been hovering near death, but had survived thus far, said Alexei Shein, a spokesman for Alexander Milinkevich, the principal challenger to Lukashenko.
"Thank God this man is still alive," Shein said of the injured demonstrator, who was one of at least two men seen lying immobile on the street after lines of officers from the SOBR, a special rapid- reaction force that has been widely accused of extensive human rights abuses, clashed with the marchers.
The march was the third opposition event of the day. The police blocked demonstrators, estimated at 6,000 strong, from reaching a rally planned in October Square, punching and kicking many of them as they tried to push through the police lines or as they blocked traffic, and ultimately clearing the sidewalks with advancing formations that pummeled people in their path.
A rally then assembled at Yanka Kupala Park, which the police videotaped, but did not break up. At Alexander Kazulin's urging, several hundred demonstrators left for a march to the prison, during which the worst violence of the day occurred.
Austria, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said in a statement Sunday that the Union "is appalled by the violence used against demonstrators" and called for the release of Kazulin and the other protesters.
Such statements by the West have had little visible effect on the Belarussian government, which retains many of the features of the Soviet police state.
Lukashenko, whose landslide re- election March 19 has been declared invalid by the West because of charges of wide-scale rigging and abuses of state power, has used police sweeps, mass arrests and violence to try to quell the unrest. Russia, his closest ally, has offered him unequivocal support.
For the first time during Lukashenko's 12 years of rule, however, demonstrators have defied the police and vowed to carry out more peaceful actions in the face of arrests, state violence and expulsions from universities or jobs. Another rally is set for April 26, the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
The authorities have not released arrest figures or provided information about the injured, making it difficult to assess the extent of the arrests, or the conditions and the identities of some of the detained.
Among those thought to be held are a small number of journalists from Russia, Canada and Western Europe, as well as foreign demonstrators, including Ukrainians, Poles and at least one man from Ireland, who was interviewed at a small protest camp.
Recommended to read while playing the national anthem of Belarus.
By C.J. Chivers The New York Times
MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2006
MOSCOW: A detained opposition leader in Belarus faces a criminal charge and has been denied prison visits by a doctor and a lawyer, according to his wife. Minsk, the Belarussian capital, has fallen quiet after a violent police crackdown against anti-government demonstrators.
Alexander Kazulin, who had challenged the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, in an election earlier this month, was seized Saturday when riot police officers with batons clashed with a column of peaceful protesters who were marching to a prison where opposition members have been jailed.
Kazulin was held Sunday at a detention center well outside of Minsk on a charge of hooliganism, said his wife, Irina Kazulin. The charge can carry penalties ranging from a fine to several years in prison.
Irina Kazulin said she visited the jail, but was not allowed to see her husband or speak with him by phone. She said she demanded that he be examined by a doctor and allowed to consult with a lawyer, but was told by a prison official that there would be no visits before Monday.
"Human rights do not work on Sunday in Belarus," she said by telephone. She said she was not sure whether her husband had been injured.
Opposition members said that at least three people were in serious medical condition with either skull fractures or spinal injuries after allegedly being beaten by the police when the march was broken up on Saturday.
One man with a skull injury had been hovering near death, but had survived thus far, said Alexei Shein, a spokesman for Alexander Milinkevich, the principal challenger to Lukashenko.
"Thank God this man is still alive," Shein said of the injured demonstrator, who was one of at least two men seen lying immobile on the street after lines of officers from the SOBR, a special rapid- reaction force that has been widely accused of extensive human rights abuses, clashed with the marchers.
The march was the third opposition event of the day. The police blocked demonstrators, estimated at 6,000 strong, from reaching a rally planned in October Square, punching and kicking many of them as they tried to push through the police lines or as they blocked traffic, and ultimately clearing the sidewalks with advancing formations that pummeled people in their path.
A rally then assembled at Yanka Kupala Park, which the police videotaped, but did not break up. At Alexander Kazulin's urging, several hundred demonstrators left for a march to the prison, during which the worst violence of the day occurred.
Austria, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said in a statement Sunday that the Union "is appalled by the violence used against demonstrators" and called for the release of Kazulin and the other protesters.
Such statements by the West have had little visible effect on the Belarussian government, which retains many of the features of the Soviet police state.
Lukashenko, whose landslide re- election March 19 has been declared invalid by the West because of charges of wide-scale rigging and abuses of state power, has used police sweeps, mass arrests and violence to try to quell the unrest. Russia, his closest ally, has offered him unequivocal support.
For the first time during Lukashenko's 12 years of rule, however, demonstrators have defied the police and vowed to carry out more peaceful actions in the face of arrests, state violence and expulsions from universities or jobs. Another rally is set for April 26, the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
The authorities have not released arrest figures or provided information about the injured, making it difficult to assess the extent of the arrests, or the conditions and the identities of some of the detained.
Among those thought to be held are a small number of journalists from Russia, Canada and Western Europe, as well as foreign demonstrators, including Ukrainians, Poles and at least one man from Ireland, who was interviewed at a small protest camp.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Cultural meltdown in France...
Seems that our beloved western culture is crumbling down... and no news about it.
Maria sent me this important note from the blog "France-Echos: Le blog in English" that I haven't been able to confirm with a news report.
Pictures of the University of Strasbourg revolucionary vandalism can be seen here.
So, is all this rioting because young french think they deserve not just a job, but job security? Hello? This is the part of socialism that I don't get it. People think they deserve it all and therefore they can't care less about giving the best as professionals and as persons because they can't get fired. Am I missing something here?
Maria sent me this important note from the blog "France-Echos: Le blog in English" that I haven't been able to confirm with a news report.
Pictures of the University of Strasbourg revolucionary vandalism can be seen here.
So, is all this rioting because young french think they deserve not just a job, but job security? Hello? This is the part of socialism that I don't get it. People think they deserve it all and therefore they can't care less about giving the best as professionals and as persons because they can't get fired. Am I missing something here?
Friday, March 24, 2006
And you though that W was the funniest Bush you'll ever seen ...
Let me introduce you his nephew Pierce (son of Neil)... :)
Funny and everything you want to say but young Pierce actually had a point.
The stupid wise ass reporter enjoyed every time of it like she also was in college. Pierce actually is in college. I really hated her smar ass attitude like her IQ is above the entire human race.
Funny and everything you want to say but young Pierce actually had a point.
The stupid wise ass reporter enjoyed every time of it like she also was in college. Pierce actually is in college. I really hated her smar ass attitude like her IQ is above the entire human race.
Lukashenko forgot to invite Jimmy Carter to his electoral process...
Seems that Lukashenko and Chavez have the same writing style uh? One seems to have better manners though (click on the above picture to read). But wait! Lukashenko even stole Chavez's famous phrase that put him into the american idol status. But seems it didn't work that well on Luki. Luki is not that lucky! Could it by because of his white-collar-CIA-gringo-agent look (not preciselly Camilo Cienfuegos look and name for that matter) or his lack of oil to negociate? Should we send him some Che-guevara t-shirts, a pair of birkies and some cohibas? Or should have he invite the Carter center? It certainly never hurts. Bah, what a fool. Now he is facing US and EU sanctions. Even ABC picked the news. How come people don't believe in his clear, transparent, democratic, overwhelming winning?In the meantime Mr. Lukashenko is smashing the opposition's protest! with the authority to end any social "disturbance" that was given to him by the law. Jesus, I didn't know that Chavez had a poor twin brother in Belarus.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
South Park gets revenge on Chef
I dunno what to make about this news... crazy as South Park it is... Wasn't he expected some type of making fun of Ron Hubbard's Scientology or Jesus et al had to take all the jokes?
South Park has exacted revenge on its former star Isaac Hayes by turning his character Chef into a paedophile and seemingly killing him off.
The opening episode of the 10th series, screened in the US on Wednesday, appeared to be a satire on Scientology.
Hayes, a Scientologist, quit the animated comedy after a different episode ridiculed the religion.
In the new show, Chef is brainwashed by the "Super Adventure Club" - thought to be a veiled reference to Scientology.
The other characters are angry at "that fruity little club for scrambling his brains".
Patched together
Hayes did not participate in the episode but his lines were apparently patched together from previous recordings.
Chef arrives after travelling the world with the Super Adventure Club and repeatedly tells the children he wants to "make sweet love" to them.
The children take him to a psychiatrist and then a strip club, where he remembers his love for women and is cured.
But he is brainwashed by the Super Adventure Club again - before falling off a bridge and being burned, stabbed and mauled by a lion and a grizzly bear.
'Hurt and confused'
At his funeral, one of the children says: "A lot of us don't agree with the choices the Chef has made in the last few days.
"Some of us feel hurt and confused that he seemed to turn his back on us.
"But we can't let the events of the past few weeks take away the memories of how Chef made us smile."
Soul singer Hayes recently announced he had left the show because of its "intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs".
But co-creator Matt Stone said: "In 10 years and over 150 episodes of South Park, Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslim, Mormons or Jews.
"He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show."
US TV network Comedy Central then pulled a different episode, which mocked Tom Cruise and more explicitly lampooned Scientology.
That prompted rumours that Cruise had demanded that the episode be dropped, which were denied by his representatives.
Hayes, 63, was admitted to hospital with exhaustion in January.
HOW ABOUT A "THANKS, MATE?"
Hard to break some news when you live on the pacific, but I had to comment that in regards of the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) guys, who were rescued by a cooperation of special forces from Britain, Canada, the US and Iraq by the way, not freed (you want to think freed by their captors right?) as the fair and balanced BBC reported. Thank you for taking note that the guys were rescued, not freed. Thank you very much, again. Also, the rescued man didn't thank the special forces in their statement... c'mon! (did I miss it?) Ok, I will thank them for them:
Thank you very much, British, Canadian, US and Iraqi forces, God bless you
yours truly,
feathers.
"She described the men as "remarkably well" and said they had been eating ice-cream and drinking orange juice."
Ok, now this is getting ridiculous. Were they taken to Disneyland too? I guess one of those nice men who had taken hostages these peacemakers forgot to feed Mr. Fox with ice-cream, orange juice, cake and cookies and instead beat him to later shot him to death. May God give rest to his soul.
Thank you very much, British, Canadian, US and Iraqi forces, God bless you
yours truly,
feathers.
"She described the men as "remarkably well" and said they had been eating ice-cream and drinking orange juice."
Ok, now this is getting ridiculous. Were they taken to Disneyland too? I guess one of those nice men who had taken hostages these peacemakers forgot to feed Mr. Fox with ice-cream, orange juice, cake and cookies and instead beat him to later shot him to death. May God give rest to his soul.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Venezuelan designers are weeping today ...
Please look at this picture, if you have a trained eye in design, you will weep with me...
Yes, they are changing the GOOD ones for the mediocre ones (not the other way).
Read "Black, green and red" comments about this cultural murder by the chavismo... Really, what's so different about this note with the Nazis burning books in Germany?
Read "Black, green and red" comments about this cultural murder by the chavismo... Really, what's so different about this note with the Nazis burning books in Germany?
Iran Freedom Concert: Success
کنسرت آزادی ایران
(http://iranfreedomconcert.comCo-hosted by students at Harvard University and the Hands Across the Mideast Support Alliance (HAMSA, a project of the American Islamic Congress), the concert aimed to promote the message that "civil rights must be respected by any Iranian government, and freedom must become a reality for all Iranians."
The concert was an outstanding success, and was covered by major news organizations. Please click here to read an article by the Boston Globe about the concert.
To see pictures and video clips of the concert, please visit: http://iranfreedomconcert.com
Hoping that this concert will help to spread the message of civil rights and freedom to become a reality for Iranians... and Venezuelans too.
Cheers,
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
The aristocratic left has a new pet zoo: Hugo Chavez's Venezuela
Taken from Juan Forero's article on the NYT:
"Some of the people who have visited Venezuela or have moved here acknowledge having some doubts. Chesa Boudin, 25, a New Yorker who has worked as a volunteer here, notes that some on the left glorify Mr. Chávez simply because he has positioned himself as the anti-Bush leader in Latin America.
About the Weathermen: Read here and here. (thanks DBC to explain what and who the weatherman was. After reading about Mr. Chesa Boudin's background, I understood his "intelectual curiosity" for a man like Hugo Chavez -Mr. Boudin was a Rhodes scholar for Christ's sake, he should know a little better. But then again, maybe he can't get away from his family's past).
The weather_underground info on wikipedia, click here.
"Some of the people who have visited Venezuela or have moved here acknowledge having some doubts. Chesa Boudin, 25, a New Yorker who has worked as a volunteer here, notes that some on the left glorify Mr. Chávez simply because he has positioned himself as the anti-Bush leader in Latin America.
But Mr. Boudin, one of the authors of a book favorable to Venezuela's government, said many people who had been dismayed by the advance of globalization saw the possibility of a better world in Venezuela.
The fact that we have a country that's trying to create an alternative model is bold and ambitious and unique, and that's why people are wondering, 'Is this possible?' " said Mr. Boudin, whose parents, Katherine Boudin and David Gilbert, were members of the 1970's radical (I would say terrorist) group the Weathermen. "The intellectual in me is curious."About the Weathermen: Read here and here. (thanks DBC to explain what and who the weatherman was. After reading about Mr. Chesa Boudin's background, I understood his "intelectual curiosity" for a man like Hugo Chavez -Mr. Boudin was a Rhodes scholar for Christ's sake, he should know a little better. But then again, maybe he can't get away from his family's past).
The weather_underground info on wikipedia, click here.
Photo:Noah Friedman-Rudovsky for The New York Times
Please note of the new red-beret version of the Ugly American taking pictures of the creatures on his safari to Caracas. Still the colonialist, imperialist mind, this time taking pictures, doing some field inspection, and then coming back to america to write a shitty article about what they think is going on there, and totally be oblivious of many important cultural and social variables and relate everything to US intervention. Hello? And what do they think they are doing? Why don't mentioning in their college reports the blatant corruption of the institutions of the regime of Hugo Chavez. How about Civil and Human Rights abuses? Isn't that important? Nahhh... as long as Hugo insults Bush, that's what is important, their agenda.
Taken from the comment section from Quico's post, from GP: "The funny thing is that he uses the phrase "revolutionary tourism" as though that form of travel didn't represent merely another chapter (this time from the left) in the long history of North American and European imperialism in Latin America."
Again, from GP: "Now, as for actually taking the time to research and study Venezuelan culture beyond a snapshot?"
Seems Hugo won the lottery when he discovered the power of manipulation of the sheeps by simply label himself as "anti-Bush".
Taken from the comment section from Quico's post, from GP: "The funny thing is that he uses the phrase "revolutionary tourism" as though that form of travel didn't represent merely another chapter (this time from the left) in the long history of North American and European imperialism in Latin America."
Again, from GP: "Now, as for actually taking the time to research and study Venezuelan culture beyond a snapshot?"
Seems Hugo won the lottery when he discovered the power of manipulation of the sheeps by simply label himself as "anti-Bush".
The Washington Post goes red.
Interesting news. Wouldn't be good to have a newspaper which reflect all kinds of news without the polarization of the right-wing, left-wing thing? Sooo tiring.
Cheers,
Cheers,
If you want to leave ISLAM in Afghanistan, you are dead
"We will cut him into little pieces," said Hosnia Wafayosofi, who works at the jail, as she made a cutting motion with her hands. "There's no need to see him.""
Soooo... in the western world it's OK to have a muslim neighbor, but in Afghanistan it's not cool to have a christian one. Actually, you will face death by been cut into little pieces.
"We are Muslim, our fathers were Muslim, our grandfathers were Muslim," said Abdul Manan, Rahman's father, who is 75. "This is an Islamic country. Imagine if your son told a police commander, also a Muslim, that he is a Christian. How would this affect you? It's very difficult for us."
You know what? I understand the tradition thing, since my family would get pretty upset if I convert to Islam. But they are not gonna kill me for that, would they, Dad? For some reason I think they would be more understanding if I choose buddhism though. Uhhhhmmm wonder why.
The western world has to review its tolerance speech if this sort of things keep happening. Wouldn't be better if we all tolerate each other and leave happily ever after? Wouldn't be?
Soooo... in the western world it's OK to have a muslim neighbor, but in Afghanistan it's not cool to have a christian one. Actually, you will face death by been cut into little pieces.
"We are Muslim, our fathers were Muslim, our grandfathers were Muslim," said Abdul Manan, Rahman's father, who is 75. "This is an Islamic country. Imagine if your son told a police commander, also a Muslim, that he is a Christian. How would this affect you? It's very difficult for us."
You know what? I understand the tradition thing, since my family would get pretty upset if I convert to Islam. But they are not gonna kill me for that, would they, Dad? For some reason I think they would be more understanding if I choose buddhism though. Uhhhhmmm wonder why.
The western world has to review its tolerance speech if this sort of things keep happening. Wouldn't be better if we all tolerate each other and leave happily ever after? Wouldn't be?
Pure Cristaline Water on the Venezuelan electoral council. "The amazing Gonzales family" story is picked by the Washington Post
For those naive people who still think that the Venezuelan electoral process is fine-and-dandy, pure and clear as cristaline water, I would like to remind you the story of the "Amazing Gonzales family", posted by Miguel Octavio (here and here) and now picked by the washington post.
Thanks Quico for pointing it out.
Thanks Quico for pointing it out.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Rewriting The Science
Didn't see 60 minutes, and not that it's my favorite show at all, specially when they talk about politics, however one of my favorite radio hosts, Art Bell, mentioned this show yesterday and I think it has a very interesting reading about the White House censoring the weather scientist and the news. Could it be because the weather is changing very fast or they know something they don't want the public to know?
Panem et Circense
Panem et Circense: Bread and circuses is a derogatory phrase which can describe either government policies to pacify the citizenry, or the shallow, decadent desires of that same citizenry. In both cases, it refers to low-cost, low-quality, high-availability food and entertainment, and to the exclusion of things which the speaker considers more important, such as art, public works projects, democracy, or human rights.
It originated as the Latin phrase "panem et circenses" (literally "bread and circuses"), and is thought to have been coined by Juvenal, a Roman satiric poet of the 1st century AD, to describe the practice of Roman Emperors who gave unlimited free wheat to the poor and costly circus games as a means of pacifying the populace with food and entertainment. Juvenal bemoaned that it was a deplorable apathy towards heroism.
In fact, the system of free or heavily subsidized food distribution was limited to a minority of Roman Citizens holding a special token (tessera) entitling them to a monthly supply of grain and olive oil from the reign of Septimus Severus. The rations were probably too small to feed a family and the receivers were not necessarily poor or in need of free food. This does not change the fact that the food supply to a city the size of Rome was of primary concern to the emperors in order to avoid popular unrest. (More here).
While Chavez was entertaining my fellow Venezuelan sheepmen and sheepwomen insulting Bush, the viaduct that connects Caracas (the capital) with the airport finally collapsed.
Please read Miguel Octavio's important comments about this here.
Bizarro Superman lives in Venezuela.
Cheers,
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Chavez blasts Bush as "donkey" and "drunkard"
I can't believe President Chavez comments today on his extremely fastidious show called "Aló Presidente". He decided it was time for some insults so he decided to insult who else? President Bush. I really don't think that this is proper behavior to anyone, specially for a president (ilegit and very unfortunate for some). In any case, a man can still behave like a man, still be a leftist nutcase revolutionary and treat others with politeness and respects, perfect example: Evo Morales from Bolivia. What I have seen about Morales in the media tell me he is a gentleman. This is one of the traits that I really dislike of Hugo Chavez, the way he treats others, specially the ones who represent a treat or are against his government. We call a person who behave like this, a "patán" (1).
Regarding Bush being a "drunkard", I have to remind President Chavez that President Bush is a sober alcoholic and that per se has a lot of merit.
(1) Patán: Barbarian
See also Quico's comment about this on his blog.
Cheers,
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Is Planet Earth's ice really melting?
Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
I am not that sold by Linda Moulton Howe, however, she has some important research on this topic that at least deserve reading and draw your own conclusions. I am not sure how serious is this research since I am not a scientist but look hell scary to me.
About Dr. Lonnie Thompson, click here and here.
The research shows with no doubt that the planet's ice is melting, but what is not conclusive is the cause. For some, it doesn't have too much to do with CO2 gases coming from industries and cars but much to do as this is a planet cycle. If that's the case, there's nothing we can do to prevent it but to fasten our seat belts.
What worries scientist is the rate in which ice is melting, which is accelerating much faster than any projection done.
Links: US Enviromental Protection Agency
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