Right On, Mahmoud!

I listened to Ahmadinejad’s entire speech to the United Nations this afternoon and, with one slight exception, I agreed with everything he said. The exception was his rather long references to religious values. They did not bother me, however, because as an atheist I did not feel personally threatened. I share many of the values espoused by religious groups, though I find that Christian groups are very likely to show their contempt for the beliefs of others and less likely to live the values they espouse.

Back to Mahmoud. His speech today was much more coherent than his speech yesterday. He might have been affected by the curve of rudeness delivered to him and the lack of attention to some of the points he was trying to make yesterday, especially with regard to the resettlement of Jews by the more powerful nations in land usurped from nations in the Middle East. (Incidentally, I find CNN the likeliest of the commercial news channels to be fair in their reporting, but most of its news staff and the people they interviewed after his speech today continued to berate him for what he said. They must have been prepared in advance to belittle him, or they were watching another film, not the one I was watching. The Iranian president deserved and received a very large ovation from the members of the United Nations.)

ARW
9/25/07

Ahmadinejad in Wonderland

Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s visit to Columbia University was a huge success for Bush—and he didn’t even have to be there!

Columbia President Lee Bollinger led off the debate by verbally attacking his guest even before allowing him to speak. He said that Ahmadinejad was either totally evil or very uneducated. I’m afraid I must be the latter, because I cannot imagine a tactic which could have made Bush look any better.

Bollinger led the attack on Ahmadinejad like the leader of a pack of dogs surrounding a terrified cat. This led, in turn, to the audience following like the rest of the pack, with jeers and laughter. And their victim’s response can only be to hate us even more.

If the Iranian leader had been treated with respect and allowed to get himself into trouble with his remarks, he would have had only himself to blame. But, like Bush, the members of this distinguished intellectual university chose the path of humiliation and designation as an even greater menace to the rest of the world.

Ahmadinejad may be an uneducated fool, but, like Bush, he is an uneducated fool with the tremendous power which only an uneducated fool can possess. And now this forum has handed both men and their followers an even greater power to move in reverse.

Non-Violent Civil Resistance in Burma

Whatever your persuasion, pray or cross your fingers!

The international community fears a repeat of 1988, when government troops brutally suppressed a popular uprising, killing some 3,000 people.

Truck loads of soldiers have been seen moving into the center of Rangoon. The government is blaming rogue dissidents for the unrest.

The protesters came out even though the junta warned it would "take action" after some 100,000 people marched
on
Monday.

They have been joined by large numbers of students and supporters who until Monday had stood on the sidelines cheering the monks.

Along with Buddhist flags, some marchers carried flags bearing the image of a fighting peacock, which was used by students in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising.

In Rangoon, monks led the way from the revered Shwedagon Pagoda, which has become a focal point of the growing protests.

Tens of thousands of Burmese defied warnings by the military junta, and staged another day of marches in cities across the country.

John Edwards Does Not Betray Us!

3 Minute Ad Rebuts Bush, Petreaus & Crocker

Excitement with the Invalid!

Just to let all of my friends out there know that I’m still here – that’s the trouble, I’m still here. As a person who loves to be at home with my dog and cats and the computer, life is great. But if you HAVE to be at home, that’s another matter.

But I do have news to impart. With the permission of my physical therapist and my occupatonal therapist, each of whom came on Wednesday, I have now put my walker away and am now walking with a cane!! They will both be back on Friday, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon for more fun and progress.

Among other things, I have now been given permission to clean the FIVE litterboxes that are placed strategically around the house. My daughter’s men came every day or so for the past two months to clean them, but they are not as expert at it as I am, and the cats and dog have begun going to potty in various forbidden spots around the house, which is not good, as well as a helluva mess to clean up.

In addition to being allowed to use a cane (and I must say that not having the walker around is like having half the furniture moved out of the house, a great blessing), I am now allowed to CLEAN THE FIVE LITTERBOXES myself!! I had my first go at it this morning, and will do it morning and night.

If this is not enough fun for you, my old pull-up garage door broke a month ago and had to be propped open all day and night. Instead of fixing an old door, I decided to get a newroll-up door with windows in it, and it was just installed yesterday. That, for me, was so exciting that I can hardly control myself.

Any of you who have read my five chapter story of the terror I experienced at the convalescent facility (AND IT WAS TERRIFYING! I cannot begin to imagine what it must be like to be a nonbeliever in a small southern town, but that was a hint.) will not find the story above too exciting unless you have been sidelined with an injury, but you might hark back to it when you are injured or at least up in years.