chaos and honey

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/28/science/28tiny.html?hp&ex=1099022400&en=8d66c9bb7753fc24&ei=5094&partner=homepage

interesting article about evolution from the ny times............

maybe its the upcoming election which has left me feeling a bit tight, full of ennui.......patience, patience, the worst fault that i suffer from is that i sometimes run out.
in the meantime, leave it to ariel sharon to deliver a very sober speech in the knesset, one that looks forward and seemingly grasps some of the obstacles ahead of us.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/492869.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/25/international/middleeast/25iraq.html?hp&ex=1098763200&en=7baaaf2e54b65ce6&ei=5094&partner=homepage
Iraqi and American officials said they had no immediate answers."
this is the last sentence from the above article in the ny times regarding the massacre by 'the insurgents' against the iraqi soldiers.
i have an answer, anytime a soldier is unarmed and in a hostile enviroment he is a sitting target.
what in the f'ing world is going on in iraq?
has everybody lost the ability to think?someone asked me before if i thought america was losing this war and i said no a couple of months ago. as of this morning i have officially changed my mind.
yes, america is losing this war now and unless it takes immeadiate steps to change the manner in which it goes about this task all of this nonsense is simply going to continue to escalate. what worries me most is that the states isnt even acting out of political correctness in iraq, no, what worries me is that it simply doesnt have the stomach for it. if they are going to allow their soldiers and iraqi soldiers (and police) continue to be sitting ducks and fighting defensively when they clearly need to be in an offensive mode all types of chaos and death will continue to ensue.

do not try to read the following and eat at the same time, article from the ny times gives details on CONVENTIONAL but nevertheless deadly weapons stockpile now awol from iraq. it is a four page article and is almost certain to send a shiver up the spine. implications of many kind pervade.......
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/25/international/middleeast/25bomb.html?hp&ex=1098763200&en=fd35fdf4b6d46d61&ei=5094&partner=homepage
world doesnt feel much safer just about now..........

i have been asked about israel policy regarding syria and the possibility that syria may have taken weapon systems from iraq and hidden them......and let me point out that it doesnt mean that i believe it or it is so necessarily.
as for the u.s. 'acknowledgement' of the 'rumor' through the cia report recently filed and discussed in front of congress,
it comes in my opinion about a year and half late. again let me stress that i have not personally seen anything that proves syria undertook a mission to hide weapons or systems for iraq. BUT let me say that this would not be the most surprising thing of all time, we arent exactly speaking about a country - syria - which is looking out for the best interest of the world.
point of the matter is that i am a bit concerned about the u.s. and the amount of time it even took the u.s. to publically acknowledge what some in israel and other places have thought for a while. the allegations of hiding weapons does warrant investigation. how? i will let those with the capabilities worry about that.
what worries me most is that the states - and i have certainly said this before here - has made a mistake of being too politically correct in this entire endeavor within iraq. part of that is when they got caught up in the wmd as the sole reason for going forward into the country and later having to back pedal. i think most people here that have read my posts understand i support u.s. action in iraq, what i dont support is the 'feel good' approach that the u.s. state dept. would like to have.
i see a war that is only really starting now. i said before the war started in iraq that the initial phase to 'capture' the country would be relatively easy, i also said winning the peace would be the thing that could lead the u.s into a black hole.again i have a lot of bias, i have seen too many odd events in my life not to lean towards a certain philosophy, but having said that it doesnt mean that i am wrong. we are confronted by a battle of ideology, one that has captured the minds of the youth who somehow feel left out or are seeking a 'greater spirit' by joining a movement which is fanatical in its origin, worse yet it is religion based.
world needs to come to grips with this and be able to state clearly what is going on. problem is nobody agrees on how to confront it or what needs to be confronted.
all i ask is for the opportunity to consider things. and frankly if asked, i would consider syria a possible 'rogue nation' which has the capability of carrying out this mission of taking on weapons and hiding them.
last point i want to touch about this issue regarding syria is i am not looking for nations to be invaded for the sake of invasion. i DO NOT WANT the u.s. to go into syria and fight them. there is no need for it. syria is a sore, it is a small pimple, nothing more. it will have either a revolution from within or it will continue to fall in all directions for the next forty years like it has just done and few will care including israel. point is that what i want to see happpen can largely come from within.......arab leaders must take responsibility for their own disgruntled populations. if they dont we will continue to see much of the same nonsense we have for the past twenty / thirty years.
when it comes right down to it i would prefer that no one interfere in any of the arab countries unless it is a country located within the midst. LET ME SPELL IT OUT, i believe israel should take care of its own dirty laundry when it is needed to be cleaned. i dont want the u.s to interfere with iran because i really dont believe they can handle the situation correctly, i dont know if israel can either, but i would like to find out. the war in iraq may have helped israel but it is a miscalculation to think that israel needs syria to be taken care of or any other nation here by the states. what israel needs is a way in which to reach a settlement on proper borders and getting along in the world. end of day, the plague of terrorists confronting the world has nothing to with israel except that it is an excuse being used by those who would like to divert attention away from their own failings - arab leaders who are corrupt. israel can take care of itself, i wish we were allowed to. if any other nation on the planet was being hit with missiles from anyone - a kid, an adult, a foreign country, or a terrorist group - that nation would not be asked to show restraint. it is a known fact syria helps support terrorist groups, so israel has every right to act according to need with syria. israel while relying on a lot of nice weapons from the states also manages to build a lot of devices in order to protect itself well. again i repeat, israel could and should take care of itself. if this means dealing with iran (and syria) by itself good, we would be better off if this was the case. i would like nothing more than israel to be worried most about its football team competing well and the stock market performing ok.
the nations of this region, the middle east must learn to take care of themselves, they must learn to work together. until that day and rationale arrives we are stuck in the mud.
here is an interesting article from today's ny times on europe as a recruiting ground for young muslims who feel 'disenfranshised'........
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/23/international/europe/23france.html?hp&ex=1098590400&en=f1c2e55c9932314f&ei=5094&partner=homepage

speak softly and carry a big flag.........
http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=921
all i know is that history can only be percieved well with many years of hindsight, that being said we havent even begun to enter the realm of the 'real' kingdoms to come over here. i dont mean that as a religious abstract. merely as a political abstract. time has a way of making mincemeat out of the mightiest forces who arent prepared well, just ask the romans. good focus, strong goals, money, and being able to move populations and troops makes for good reading. i suspect we are now entering interesting chapters for future readers.

home sweet ex-home.........
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/19/international/middleeast/19israel.html?8hpib

http://www.nytimes.com/financialtimes/business/FT20041014_7135_243530.html?oref=login
allow me to say i have been completely wrong about this yukos fandango. i believed putin/russia were really trying to extract tax money from them to set an example to many of the barons who made fortunes buying up these companies for peanuts and hiding revenues. but apparently there is something much more sinister going on that i dont understand yet because russia apparently is set to start selling off major parts of the company for a ridiculously low price. nothing like having a company stolen from you as the article in the financial times implies 'in broad daylight'. unless i am missing something big, seems to me that this move will kill off quite a bit of investment into russia.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/14/opinion/14friedman.html
the above is an op-ed piece written by thomas friedman in the ny times today. it is well written (as all things are by mr. friedman).
the following is my response which i posted on the ny times forum site for the article:

zevchi - 11:13 AM ET October 14, 2004 (#655 of 660)
rose colored glasses perhaps
the article by mr. friedman is well written and thoughtful, but i believe it is a view which is hoping for peace to suddenly spring forth from a scorched earth.
this is not only about 9/11, it is about bali, beslan, etc. not to even mention what is taking place between israel and palestine. the world is being confronted with war.
9/11 was not the first act of fanatics, we had been building up to it for 25 years. the act of doing nothing - not taking fanatics seriously enough, not holding middle east govts responsible for corruption and lack of basic rights including an economic means to change their citizens lives, and lastly closing our eyes to other acts of bloodshed helped create an atmosphere in which the fanatics believed they should & could effect change through the use of violence.
solutions must be found, but hoping for the world to return to a day when terrorism is merely a nuisance without having a plan (and more dangerously not taking seriously the risk to the 'west') is only wishful thinking. bush might not be fdr or churchill but at least he is going forward. both kerry and bush were taken to task in this article but the question that u.s. voters must articulate is which one of their candidates will make it a safer world not only today but for the next decade to come.
this is a war in which small battles have been raging since the civil war in lebanon (mr. friedman knows quite a bit about this) and the iranian revolution. perhaps in the short term we can look upon all things as isolated events, but they are not.
in order to get back to a more tranquil day we are going to need to do many things correctly for a number of years to shape the world for the better.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/13/iraq.graves/index.html
yet another mass grave and yet another reason added to a long list on why saddam needed to go.........

i suggest that the next round of presidential debates in 2008 be done with robots who take the parts of the chosen candidates of the democrats and republicans.
it would be just as boring then as it is now. what have we learned really from any of the three debates which we didnt know already?our planet has become plastic, there is little room for spontanious thought.
what has happened to us? do we want everything packaged and pasturized for our safety and sensibilities? do the presidential candidates go to the toilet like the rest of us?
i will be happy when the election is over so we can go back to our real lives.........until then - smile everyone.
i found myself imagining what would happen if bush or kerry would have taken a pen w/ a pinpoint red light and started shining it on the other when they were making points. i find myself craving humor when i watch these debates - a joke, a pratfall, a belch - something to make it more human.
perhaps the ability to communicate within forums, blogs, news rooms will make a lot of this nonsense obsolete. we must learn to incorporate our multi-medias into more reality and less cometic packaging. we must find a way to channel it and use our increased ability to communicate with less preservatives. but as some have said, "we get what we deserve", and until we say, "no mas', we will get plenty more.......
south park guys should be the ones producing the presidential debates........maybe sean penn would like to be a cartoon 'moderater' on it.........

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/12/iraq.nuclear/index.html
didnt hitler claim that some of the weapons he eventually used in world war two and were a clear violation of the versaille treaty as items that had other uses? what are we missing here? do you mean to say that saddam was definitely holding material which easily could have been brought together to make a bomb but that because he said that he would never do such a thing that the un believed him? the whole thing get more ridiculous over time............are we that naive?

imo, sharon govt is on the verge of collaspe, we will have elections here declared by spring of 05. btw, it doesnt mean labor will do well in the next election considering how unorganized and self involved they are. just means that sharon is backing himself into a position which he will have a very hard time containing, he is losing his ability to keep everyone content. we will see bibi and olmert fight over control of likud, and i believe bibi will win this battle. he has more political clout and a longer reach than olmert and his opponents (within the likud) know they must eat too. thus, i think we will see bibi netanyahu as prime minister of israel (once again) by the summer of 05. you read it here first remember.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/11/iraq.nuclear/index.html

i have read a couple of articles about this news above today and i am confused. can someone please help with the following: if the u.n. nuclear arms investigators are worried that whole buildings, high tech metals, and other devices are now missing since the beginning of the war in iraq, HOW DOES THIS not count as pursuing the ability to build a weapon of mass destruction by saddam? what is it that i dont get exactly? if the u.n. investigators are saying that apparatus has disappeared in which a weapon of mass destruction could effectively been built (or even used as materials within such a weapon) how does that not count as something that should have been part of any ban that iraq had previous to the war? where is the logic here or am i being an idiot?

interesting article written in the la times today, posted on drudgereport, that says bush admin is holding off 'major' assaults in iraq until after election.
imo, they could have written this article five months ago when the politico weak knees starting listening to polling instead of what their officers on the ground in iraq were saying.
thing about this is that kerry cannot use this against bush because kerry if given the chance will be much more 'sympathetic' to polling.
the real political danger bush faced over this issue (past tense) were people on the right (actually hawks is a better term) that wanted more aggressive actions and responses.
what we have, as i said five months ago, is an election coming up that has been treated very much like a game of baseball.
bush will be getting his closer ready soon and pray that he has enough to get kerry and his cohorts out. close game that it has been, i suspect bush has a closer that is a tad better than kerry's...........
but then again i am a cub fan

from the assoicated press via the washington times, the following article has some arab viewpoints regarding who will be president for the next 4 years. the israel palestinian conflict is mentioned predominantly as a focal point.....
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MIDEAST_BUSH_OR_KERRY?SITE=DCTMS&SECTION=HOME

bit of a surreal day to see jews returning to israel from the sinai by foot after withstanding (and suffering through) the attack there. not exactly the story of moses and the exodus but consequential none the less.
the news up to now is reporting at least 25 dead and apparently the number is going to increase. unfortunately these barbaric acts no longer can surprise me. it seems that we merely wait for the next event to transform our lives here.
it will be of some interest to find out who exactly carried out the bombings in the sinai, we are hearing hizbollah operatives, al qaida, and others mentioned which is typical so soon after a major attack which was obviously coordinated to be destructive as possible.
as always the terrorists have proven themselves cowards once again taking on innocent people who are on holiday as they sleep in the hotels and along the beach.
also important to note is that this act of murder took place directly against israelis in an area where it is widely known that israelis vacation. and additionally, the terrorists tried to inflict the greatest amount of bloodshed and mayhem on innocent families.........this is why it is called terror and should not be misunderstood. the attacks didnt take place against a military installation, an office which conducts israeli affairs.........they attacked people who wanted to snorkel in the red sea, sit on the beach, and in general escape from a hectic and tension filled life.
lastly regarding the attack, if it was not palestinians and it was conducted by others - which actually seems the most realistic perception at this point - it underscores yet once again that this is not so much a war that is being fought by palestinians simply because they are trying to address 'wrongs' done to them. it is a war being carried out by a multitude of fighters who have a deep hatred of jews and israel and the west. the people that seek the destruction of jews, israelis, and the west have bought completely into the 'big lie' that has been foisted upon them for the past twenty five years by 'leaders and scholars' from predominantly the middle east because they are not able to take responsibility for injustices that they know full well has nothing to do with israel or the west. corruption, lack of economic mobility within the working classes, and lack of basic human rights continues to be the looking glass for the middle east and its problems.........all depends on whose reality you choose to see.
speaking of which and also telling, the french interior minister insisting that the bombing in paris on the indonesian embassy was 'a criminal act' that injured ten this morning. yes, it have may have been criminal technically speaking, but wasnt it also a terrorist act? which the indonesians were quick to call it.next?

http://www.newtimes.ru/eng/
stumbled upon the above site this week when looking into russian web publications, i have read through a few articles and i recommend taking a look at the site. it is well written and offers details and a unique perspective on russia & its scope of interest, a lot of us arent able to see or know.

as per my prediction regarding rumsfield and bremer seeking to re-explain their encounters with the media recently, look for dov weisglass to do the same thing within a couple of days. already israel officials are pointing out that he is no longer a full time aide to the prime minister and is only working as a part time consultant.
perhaps weisglass can find some additional work in the theatre working as dopey in the seven dwarfs to fill out his lackluster schedule.
if weisglass was craving attention he certainly has received it, now we only have to watch how much crow mr. weisglass likes to eat.......
ha'aretz will not make this so easy for him i suspect.

imo, a top israeli aide to prime minister sharon who has been quoted as saying the entire gaza pullout initiated by the sharon govt is a ruse in so many words has proven that he doesnt quite understand the world he lives in.
if true, why would someone be stupid enough to say the things dov weisglass has been quoted on in an interview with ha'aretz? how in the world does he expect that this will win likud more votes than lose them? weisglass has shown absurd logic here and is definitely showing an arrogance which can only be interpreted as imbecilic imo...........in one short interview, weisglass has given energy to all that he dreads. does he have the intelligence level to know he has done such a thing? or does he suffer from not seeing his name in the press enough and simply longing to see himself quoted even within the most unflattering light? naive and arrogant are a bad combination.........
he would have been better off putting an electronic billboard on his back that reads - I AM AN IDIOT - PLEASE KICK ME NOW! in bright red lights. conspiracy theorists will be allowed to fill new books because of this moron.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/485680.html

i sit in a tree naked
and caculate the dead appendages i will one day have
when i fall down
face first into the soil and rot like an orange, except
the smell will stink
and people will stare and wonder who i am not knowing
that it doesnt matter.
because dead can no longer count, dead can no longer
pee down on cars
within the tree from which i count the days and wonder
how much longer.

the following is a very good opinion piece from ha'aretz regarding the palestinians ability to continue to make things worse for themselves......
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/484986.html

interesting comment piece from ha'aretz on the issue of dual loyality and the franklin affair.......
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/485011.html

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=6414697

surprise, surprise, rumsfield has come out and re-explained his earlier comments regarding iraq and al-qaida. bremer will not be far behind i suspect.

we can now add paul bremer to the list now that seems to be growing regarding information about the iraqi war which goes against the grain of what was being told to the public over the past year and a half.
bremer has publically said there were NOT enough american troops in iraq and thus there IS more chaos to deal with today. this sharply goes against what rumsfield and the defense department has been saying........
rumsfield btw has come out and said that he has seen no hard proof that there was a direct connection between al-qaida and huessin this past weekend.
seems that bush has a bit of a mutiny on his hands just before the election. a sure sign that not all of his (bush's) soldiers are with him. question is why is this all happening now and who stands to gain from this. particularly if some of these men believe bush is going to win a second term. what do they stand to gain? who are they trying to smear?
granted many of these facts now being discussed must be brought into a proper context and as the crapoola hits the fan in the next week much of it will be re-thought out loud.
for instance, look for bremer to add to his comments in the coming days that what he meant was that there were not enough troops because the 4th infantry was not allowed to pursue its originally planned mission which most probably had something to do with coming down from turkey to make all in their wake less a threat - which would have included the sunni triangle which is now being confronted in places like sammara and fallujah.
as for rumsfield, it is harder to explain his sudden comments regarding evidence. we will see where the next couple of weeks take us.

both kerry and bush sounded like politically correct droids regarding sudan during their debate.
there will be intervention in sudan only after all the icebergs have melted.
we will watch in the coming year as an additional one million people are marched to their deaths because of a blatant racist ideology.
nice world that we live in when we can get so crazed about the little things and turn a blind eye to murder on such a massive scale it cannot be comprehended. just think, as we tinker around tonight with our important lives another 200 people will be murdered in sudan tonight, nice isnt it?
sudan will soon join the illustrious list of cambodia and rwanda.

following is a case in point why israelis so mistrust the u.n.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/484839.html
head of one of the u.n. groups here admits that it has hamas members on its payroll, but claims that they are merely political members not from the military wing.
really?
its the kind of thing that makes me believe the u.n. is nothing but a huge waste of money for anyone willing to support it.
it is one of the last strongholds where utopia is allowed to be preached and where corruption freely reigns.
only people it is good for are the diplomats who get to show off their language skills, wear nice suits, and get parking perks in new york city.
what has become of the oil for food scandal, which kofi annan's son is such a large part of?
and what about stopping the genocide in sudan?
it is a sick joke.

certainly israel will have to consider many of the implications of going after iran. attacking iran's nuclear sites might actually work to increase the power of the radical clerics there because for the past four or five years moderates have made some inroads within the govt structure in tehran and have a voice (though muffled) in which to be critical of economic and social injustices.
too, what bothers me is that israel becomes the designated bad guys in this scenerio. seems to me the world is keen to see iran without a nuclear capability but doesnt have the stomach for taking strong action and would prefer for israel to be the fall guy here.
i would much prefer that iran chooses to go another way (possibly becoming an island nation in the indian ocean for instance).
we are at least a half year away from any 'action'. this because i believe the states, israel, and anyone else (who this might include i am uncertain of and not sure if they even exist) taking the hardline approach will be forced to play along with a war of propaganda before anythings happens.
if israel chooses to be 'the bad guy' here, i will certainly expect to see missiles fired from lebanon by 'the army of god - hizbollah' deep into israel and iran to try out its latest technology from its own land of splendor. and if that is the case israel will use her air force unlike she has ever done.
this is the one that could get very messy and really become the type of war we are more accustomed to reading about in text books.............and i unfortunately may get a front row seat.

i have been asked if there are any developments to speak of regarding the hizbullah on the lebanese border because of what is taking place in gaza this weekend because of the israeli military offensive due to the deaths of two children who were killed by the missile attack on sderot.
but all is quiet on the northern front with lebanon this week. the real news (threats & rumors) are that hamas claims it has a version of qassam 2 missile that it has been firing at sderot which is about 7 kms away from gaza, WHICH can hit ashkelon which is about 15 kms away from gaza.
i dont necessarily doubt that hamas has the ability to fire such a mechanism but to say that hamas would be biting off more than it can chew might be quite an understatement. this action if it were to occur would be hamas telling the world that it knows it is about to be decimated and is saying goodbye to the earthly world.
word is that hamas is under incredible strain right now, their leaders are in hiding not only in gaza but in syria too now.........they had to make a statement (by shooting the missiles the past week) that they were not completely stymied. but if they were to fire off such a weapon, as crude as it is, at ashkelon, i hesitate to imagine what reaction israel might have to such a thing.
ALSO interesting development imo is that world press seems to be getting ready for an israeli action on iranian nuclear 'research' sites..........i believe we are being conditioned for some type of action to come.
being that i am a big believer in modern politicians taking no risks before general elections (not that i agree with the policy) - i.e. bush the past six months in iraq - there is little chance bush is going to condone any action in october - no let me change that, i am 100% certain NOTHING will take place with israel and iran UNTIL after the american election, then it is possible if bush trys and sees that he is failing with speaking to the iranians i believe he will give a very quiet green light to the israelis - one in which he will publically say israel should not have acted in such a way. OR if kerry wins (one must prepare for all things in life) imo israel will do much the same thing they did when reagan was president when it destroyed iraq's nuclear facility, not say much of anything, carry out the mission, and then state that israel has a right to protect its own national interest.