Dog From Hell: December 2008

Oh So Now It is Iran's Fault...

The Israelis blamce anyone except themselves for having conducted military operation when a cease fire was supposed to be in effect... They provoke a reaction and then blamce their response on the reaction. Very clever!

And now, the Iranians are to blame. Which is an insult to the Iranians... The homemade rockets Hamas launches into South of Israel have a hit and miss ratio of 500 to 1... Pretty dismal state of the art "know-how" if you ask me...

Quartet calls for immediate truce between Israel and Gaza

Israel's envoy to the U.S., Sallay Meridor, on Tuesday blamed Iran for the situation in Gaza.

"What you see in Gaza is made by Iran - it's funded by Iran, the terrorists are trained by Iran, it's supplied by Iran, the know-how to create short range rockets is Iranian, he said. "As an octopus, Iran has proxies in region and beyond the region, and at the same time they?re moving towards nuclear weapons."

"This is not a separate Israeli problem or a threat to Israel, this is very well-connected to the threat in Mumbai, Be'er Sheva, or God forbid, NYC, and we can defeat it only if we stand together determined not to let those terrorists to kill citizens and destroy our way of life. You must act against a terror if you want to give peace a chance," he said, adding: "We are making efforts to make sure that whatever humanitarian aid wants to get to Gaza will get into Gaza."

what every American needs to know about Israel/Palestine

Set of very interesting statistics... Pass it along.

If Americans Knew

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the world’s major sources of instability. Americans are directly connected to this conflict, and increasingly imperiled by its devastation.

It is the goal of If Americans Knew to provide full and accurate information on this critical issue, and on our power – and duty – to bring a resolution.

Holiday Positions... New Year's Eve is Around the Corner.

The Bachelor Guy » Santa Sutra - 9 Holiday Sex Positions That'll Stuff Your Stocking

The holidays are a stressful time. And after weeks of battling mall crowds, dealing with dysfunctional relatives and dashing through the snow from one event to another, you need some release. So grab your favorite naughty elf and work out your yuletide tension with a few of these holiday sex positions. It's what keeps Santa so damn jolly.

A New Verb

Ghoul's Glossary: Shoewhack

Ghoul's Glossary: Shoewhack

Shoewhack (v.) To assault someone with footwear in such a way as to humiliate that individual, especially at a moment of supposed triumph or obvious hypocrisy. A shoewhacking generally involves an element of surprise. It is especially appropriate for individuals guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors who have for reasons of wealth and power nevertheless escaped any other punishment for their iniquity.

posted by Juan Cole @ 12/20/2008 11:26:00 AM

the LEgacy of the "Shoe Head" President

'No apology' from Iraq shoe-thrower

"[Muntazer] is not even considering, not now, nor in the future, apologising for what he has done."

Dhiya'a al-Sa'adi,
al-Zaidi's lawyer

Bleathing Little Lamb

Remembering Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter - "Is Our Conscience Dead?"

Pinter's Laureate speech question, "Is Our Conscience Dead?" is most relevant today when three years after his acceptance speech, "Art, Truth and Politics," Bush, Cheney, Rice and other administration officials are either trying to rewrite history or, as in Cheney's case - purposefully revealing his role in specific criminal acts of torture and daring the American legal system and people to hold him accountable.

Following is the part of Pinter's lecture that speaks to the invasion of Iraq, torture and Guantanamo - and our collective and individual conscience:

"Art, Truth and Politics"
Noble Lecture by Harold Pinter
December 7, 2005

"... The United States no longer ... sees any point in being reticent or even devious. It puts its cards on the table without fear or favour. It quite simply doesn't give a damn about the United Nations, international law or critical dissent, which it regards as impotent and irrelevant.

It also has its own bleating little lamb tagging behind it on a lead, the pathetic and supine Great Britain.

Looks Like He May Get Off...

Legal Hurdle in Blagojevich Case - A Crime, or Just Talk?

But now some lawyers are beginning to suggest that the juiciest part of the case against Mr. Blagojevich, the part involving the Senate seat, may be less than airtight. There is no evidence, at least none that has been disclosed, that the governor actually received anything of value — and the Senate appointment has yet to be made.

Ever since the country’s founding, prosecutors, defense lawyers and juries have been trying to define the difference between criminality and political deal-making. They have never established a clear-cut line between the offensive and the illegal, and the hours of wiretapped conversations involving Mr. Blagojevich, filled with crass, profane talk about benefiting from the Senate vacancy, may fall into a legal gray area.

Bed of Roses They Said...

The Liberator's farewell!

Fitzy Pounced Too Soon?

Hail to Chicago, Beacon of American Values

Of course the good government crowd is aghast. “I was speechless and sickened,” wails Cindi Canary, executive director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. “In all of the millions of indictments I’ve read over the last years, I can’t remember anything as vile as this.” Another reformer moans about “the damage to the state,. It’s going to take a long time to dig out.” Nonsense. This is exactly the sort of scandal Americans understand and appreciate. Good government is the province of states animated by the social democratic ethos of prim Nordics, like the Dakotas, or Washington in the Pacific Northwest. In the riper ethnic cauldrons of Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and of course New Jersey, corruption reigns in all its intricate and creative forms, In these states no politician is beyond the reach of an indictment, and this political certainty is the truest form of Americanism and the soundest check and balance against the arrogance of power.

If defended by a capable lawyer I don’t see any reason why Blago shouldn’t emerge from his ordeal with a verdict of Not Guilty from the 12 jurors. Don’t those freedoms we supposedly enjoy include the right to dream over the breakfast table or the cocktail shaker of extorting large sums of money from ambitious politicians and venal businessmen? It’s one thing to dream and another to actually grab the bundle of cash, stick it in the refrigerator and say, The senate seat is yours. Fitzgerald pounced too soon. And even if the quid pro quo is there on film, juries can be forgiving, as their indulgent scrutiny of FBI footage of John Z.Delorean and Mayor Marion Barry attest.

The Dufus...

Too Close to Reality...

"War prisoners apart, the average citizen of Oceania never sets eyes on a citizen of either Eurasia or Eastasia, and he is forbidden the knowledge of foreign languages. If he were allowed contact with foreigners he would discover that they are creatures similar to himself and that most of what he has been told about them is lies. The sealed world in which he lives would be broken, and the fear, hatred, and self-righteousness on which his morale depends might evaporate. "

George Orwell, 1984