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Friday July 14, 2006

Stating the obvious

Anglosphere

Now, really?

Israel believes Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah did not intend to ignite such a dramatic escalation when his fighters kidnapped two Israel Defense Forces soldiers and killed eight others on Tuesday.

Blatently. Terrorists can only exist when they expect to be appeased to some extent. If terrorists would always be 100% convinced that their actions are followed by full-out retaliatio, they'd probably get smart and quit.

So basically it's a big confession to state that ordinarily people get away with this stuff without "dramatic escalation".

Inter Serie A silent legis

Sports

Italy might return to a class-based justice system considering its Justice Minister's call for leniency against the World Cup winners following the huge betting scandal in the Italian leagues:

The national side's World Cup triumph in a penalty shoot-out against France has sparked calls for leniency.

"Let's do what they did in ancient Rome: whoever has given us prestige and dignity should be treated differently, as one who has done something exemplary," said Italy's Justice Minister Clemente Mastella.

That would be as just as the OJ Simpson trial, but at least the fascist Ities are honest about it. (That said, read about self-admitted über-fascist Paolo di Canio.)

Syria and Iran behind Hezbollah kidnappings?

Anglosphere

It has been speculated before, but now Lebanon itself joins the ranks of those who hint Syria and Iran may have directed Hezbollah to attack Israel:

Jumblatt is the head of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party and is largely considered the most prominent anti-Syrian Lebanese politician.

He said he saw the fingerprints of Iran and Syria on Hezbollah's actions the past few days.

There is of course no significant news value in this statement. Hezbollah has obvious ties to Iran through the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and that Syria has been pulling strings in Lebanon is not exactly on the of the best kept secrets in the world either.

UNSC Idiocracy

Anglosphere

Wikipedia on Hezbollah:

Those who consider Hezbollah to be a terrorist organization consider its sponsors (in particular Iran, Syria, and Lebanon) to stand in violation of UN Security Council Resolutions 1373 and 1566. Further, UN Security Council Resolution 1559 calls for the dismantling of Hezbollah and all other militias.

So you think the UN would then praise Israel for beginning to dismantle this terrorist network? Think again, that's not the kind of world we live in. The UN was actually planning to condemn Israel's reaction, an effort killed by the sanity of John Bolton's veto for the US yesterday.

Meryl Yourish doesn't expect much form the UN either:

More than 700 katyusha rockets and mortars have landed in Israel since the beginning of hostilities. Imagine the "disproportionate" response of any other nation under these circumstances. Like, say, Russia. Or France, who threatened to nuke Iran only this past year, as I recall.

Still waiting for UN condemnation of Hezbullah rocket attacks on Israel. No, not really.

Leftist "mikmak"

European Union

Here's a nice reprinted quote of Dutch comedian Freek de Jonge which I found in the Rails magazine on the train:

Was that radicalism indeed original? Was it indeed upstanding to announce on stage who is decent and who isn't, without respect for other opinions? I now think: let's the thankful that conservative people in the sixties and seventies remained loyal to their "right" ideas. If we had gone overboard with that radical-left "mikmak", if the world healers had gotten in charge... then things would've looked scary. For real. Then we'd all be doomed.

Two things:

Firstly, what would a proper translation for "mikmak" be?

Secondly, this is a quote from August 1995. A quick glance at developments since then shows us: over-zealous application of political correctness, environmentalist fairytales branded global warming, five more years of Clinton, appeasement of Arafat, Che Guevara t-shirts, Anti-Flag, Michael Moore, the revival of communism and its socialist offspring socialism.. and so on.

We should indeed be very thankful we're not going overboard with leftist "mikmak". We're not doomed. Not at all.

(Posted under EU, not that radical leftism is restricted to Europe, as seen in the examples.)

Pornography and prostitution

Anglosphere

There's something I can't explain. In many places, prostitution is illegal but pornography is not. It's not allowed to pay for (or receive payment for) sexual acitivities, unless you distribute photography or recordings.

Can someone explain to me how this makes any sense at all?

Love and marriage

Anglosphere

Neil mentioned a marriage post and I sang:

Love and marriage
Love and marriage
go together like a horse and carriage

Neil commented marriage isn't the government registration of love and I agreed, it's about a commitment. Then we noticed how Married With Children applies. Despite their problems, Peg and Al never divorced. Compare that to Ross from Friends, who got like three divorces a season (fair enough, "only" thrice in ten years time). These differences showcase how commitment is the vital ingredient of marriage, not love.

Good riddance Abou Jahjah

Anglosphere

And who's off to Lebanon? AEL leader Dyab "this might be the last text I will write before going home on a trip that might be my last" Abou Jahjah! (HT: Southener)

I lived my life for this Nation, and not a hair in me will hesitate in laying it down for this Nation too. The fight for Arab Unity, Liberation, Freedom and Socialism is the essence of Justice in the Homeland and beyond. Some people call it a fight for god, some people call it a fight for mankind, in essence it is one and the same fight for freedom and justice.

Our enemy in this fight is also one and the same, the colonialist Zionists are the spiritual children of the Racists in Europe and both are the products of capitalism and its global system of exploitation and slavery.

Well, at least the message is out loud and clear now that the AEL leader considers his Eurabian European hosts to be his enemy.

Selling on-line identities

Software

Want a lower Slashdot ID? A MySpace account with earlier registration date? Sweet gaming skills? Well, that sort of stuff is actually for sale! I'm going to have to write a proposal for work about the success of on-line identities and profiles. What better proof than a screenshot capture from an advert on my site?

/img/journal/20060714-adsense.jpg

I don't play World of Warcraft so I have no idea whatsoever whether this is a good offer (500 gold doesn't sound impressive) but come on.. $179 for some skills? I had seriously no idea these were current day market prices for a small amount of on-line glory.

Next day: Saturday July 15, 2006 Previous day: Thursday July 13, 2006

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