Monday, August 29, 2005
Architecture & Copyright
Haven't I Seen You Before?
in an effort to bring forth something more than talk about bloodshed, here is an article from the ny times internet this morning on architecture and the idea of intellectual property.
in an effort to bring forth something more than talk about bloodshed, here is an article from the ny times internet this morning on architecture and the idea of intellectual property.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Silence Broken
why haven't i written in so long?
it isn't because i didn't have anything to say, in fact i would say that i had too much on my mind, too many thoughts which would have come out in a complicated alphabet soup.
news today coming from beersheva suggests that an islamic jihad operative acted as a suicide bomber today, injuring people and if not for the heroic action of security guards both of whom have been injured badly that the bomber would have killed many. apparently a bus driver was able to confuse the bomber and told him a bus he was looking for was 'over there' and then the driver alerted the guards.
this is what we are faced with isn't it?
we have given back the gaza area and we are left to sit in our own filth once again while the palestinians misinterpret our actions and we wait to be attacked.
i have been warning for months now that soon after the gaza handback occurs we can expect an upsurge in terrorism and a new intifada. i would prefer not to be correct about any of this and we still have a way to go to make this nightmare reality, but i am afraid we are on the way.
how else are the palestinians going to react when they are being told that the reason that they have received gaza back was because of their armed struggle by their leaders?
if you were living in the west bank now as a palestinian wouldn't you feel just a bit more confident that your actions as a militant might eventually have a greater good for your nation of which you have dreamed about and been told to expect all of your life?
who on the palestinian side is going to stand up and say, no, now we have reached the point where we must give up our armed struggle and sit with the israelis to make peace?
the head of hamas was quoted on friday as saying that the destruction of israel is the goal of his organization.
thing is i could go own for a book lenght diatribe here but i will not. what we have just witnessed is an act by israel to get out of gaza, a place that it faced a losing proposition and one in which was going to always be a focal point for violence.....
and now we face the mob mentality and all of its ill wind.
i fully expect things to get worse before they get better here, i fully expect for missiles to be shot from west bank villages into israeli towns including my own - kfar saba.
thing is i want peace but as i was reminded last week, no body has ever lost money betting against peace in the middle east the past hundred years.
i was really hoping to turn this blog into something else other than a political/ war commentary........
i was hoping to have notes on architecture, music, books - and i still may get that chance.
i fear that there is a snake that is crawling towards the surface and that my family and i are once again the prey.
good luck to everyone and i hope i can meet you on the other side of the rainbow.
it isn't because i didn't have anything to say, in fact i would say that i had too much on my mind, too many thoughts which would have come out in a complicated alphabet soup.
news today coming from beersheva suggests that an islamic jihad operative acted as a suicide bomber today, injuring people and if not for the heroic action of security guards both of whom have been injured badly that the bomber would have killed many. apparently a bus driver was able to confuse the bomber and told him a bus he was looking for was 'over there' and then the driver alerted the guards.
this is what we are faced with isn't it?
we have given back the gaza area and we are left to sit in our own filth once again while the palestinians misinterpret our actions and we wait to be attacked.
i have been warning for months now that soon after the gaza handback occurs we can expect an upsurge in terrorism and a new intifada. i would prefer not to be correct about any of this and we still have a way to go to make this nightmare reality, but i am afraid we are on the way.
how else are the palestinians going to react when they are being told that the reason that they have received gaza back was because of their armed struggle by their leaders?
if you were living in the west bank now as a palestinian wouldn't you feel just a bit more confident that your actions as a militant might eventually have a greater good for your nation of which you have dreamed about and been told to expect all of your life?
who on the palestinian side is going to stand up and say, no, now we have reached the point where we must give up our armed struggle and sit with the israelis to make peace?
the head of hamas was quoted on friday as saying that the destruction of israel is the goal of his organization.
thing is i could go own for a book lenght diatribe here but i will not. what we have just witnessed is an act by israel to get out of gaza, a place that it faced a losing proposition and one in which was going to always be a focal point for violence.....
and now we face the mob mentality and all of its ill wind.
i fully expect things to get worse before they get better here, i fully expect for missiles to be shot from west bank villages into israeli towns including my own - kfar saba.
thing is i want peace but as i was reminded last week, no body has ever lost money betting against peace in the middle east the past hundred years.
i was really hoping to turn this blog into something else other than a political/ war commentary........
i was hoping to have notes on architecture, music, books - and i still may get that chance.
i fear that there is a snake that is crawling towards the surface and that my family and i are once again the prey.
good luck to everyone and i hope i can meet you on the other side of the rainbow.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Big Publicity For The Big Pharaoh
Big Publicity
the big pharoah and his cohorts in egypt are getting world wide press, here is an article from today's ha'aretz regarding their attempts at having an anti-terrorism march in cairo and it getting called off.
at this point since the big pharoah and his cohorts have garnered so much publicity i believe it wise to give them as much help as possible, this because if enough people know about him and his cohorts perhaps this will help them stay within a safe boundary.
i do not know the big pharaoh personally except for exchanging emails, i do not even know his name.
i can tell you that i believe what he and his associates are doing takes a lot of balls and that they should be supported world wide for their efforts.
they are putting their necks on the line to change a system. they are using blogs in a way that will make all of us just a bit more knowledgable regarding the middle east and the way it really works.
THE BIG PHARAOH
the big pharoah and his cohorts in egypt are getting world wide press, here is an article from today's ha'aretz regarding their attempts at having an anti-terrorism march in cairo and it getting called off.
at this point since the big pharoah and his cohorts have garnered so much publicity i believe it wise to give them as much help as possible, this because if enough people know about him and his cohorts perhaps this will help them stay within a safe boundary.
i do not know the big pharaoh personally except for exchanging emails, i do not even know his name.
i can tell you that i believe what he and his associates are doing takes a lot of balls and that they should be supported world wide for their efforts.
they are putting their necks on the line to change a system. they are using blogs in a way that will make all of us just a bit more knowledgable regarding the middle east and the way it really works.
THE BIG PHARAOH
The Bomb & Dialogue
here are some of my thoughts continued based on questions asked..........per the Next Bloodbaths post......
semantics are not needed when we are discussing nuclear bombs or the potential of them.
is the world a safer place with a nuclear arsenal in the hands of iran?
imo, no.
i have no problem with dialogue provided it is between two parties/ + that are able to speak with one another logically. in a utopian world it would be easy to say that no bombs in anyones hands would be best.
however, since we live in the real world with real differences on philosophy and the meaning of life and its values, suffice it for me to say that i prefer if NO nuclear bombs are within the grasp of any fanatics. why would anyone think that a dialogue between a logical party and a fanatic would have a good result? as for judging who is the logical party and who is the fanatic, that is up to the individual - and i trust there will be large disagreements about who is right and who is wrong.
it is too easy a (defense) lawyers ploy to simply play devil's advocate and suggest that if everyone had the bomb there would be no more war because everybody would have mutual respect for each other's pond.
weapons are made to be used, for the most part nuclear weapons have not been used because the only countries having them have been a limited number. that is changing, the more bombs, the greater the risk of one going off, and if one goes off the greater the risk of many exploding.
nuclear war is no longer the domain of the desk & chair military chief who wonders about MAD. it is within the realm of making sure maniacs and radical govts dont have the capability of igniting the world on fire using every means necessary to keep the fanatics from gaining nuclear capabilities.
and yes i am very much afraid of the fire and i dont believe the maniacs who make up a large segment of the fanatics - who the west is battling have the same belief system on the meaning of life. perhaps that is not politically correct, but i would rather make an enemy and be alive, then make a friend and be dead.
for those of us who believe in this life only, it seems an important task to make sure we create as good a place as possible here for our well being, sometimes that means that ugly things are done to achieve our tranquility.
as for dialogue and my objection to it sometimes, sanity, logic is a good place to start when trying to have a conversation but how do you talk to maniacs coherently?
case in point, north korea. just how are things going with that utopian based country as of today? how is china, the states, russia, and south korea doing in terms of handling 'the dialogue'?
seems to me every time i turn around the north koreans have the other 'dialogue' participants offering a little bit more.......this week south korea offered electricity to their 'great' northern brethren.
imo, the participants should tell north korea the following, "get rid of your bombs or be completely isolated,"
since no one can agree on what this means we have this 'logical' dialogue going between all participants except for the one who the talks are aimed at - a brutal utopian nightmare communist regime.
lets see where these dialogues go, perhaps to hades.
dialogues are fantasy based tools of diplomats and other foreign dept/ ministry/ formats and are typically destined to fail unless there is a cohesive plan by all attending and a common goal among the leaders.
nuclear game theory doesnt work this way, because countries without want their bombs
and countries with bombs dont want those without to have them.
participants know kings ransoms are at stake and that they can win big.
i said before i cannot blame the iranians for wanting a bomb. it makes perfect sense for them to try and achieve this.
thing is i live on the other side of their 'neighborly fence' and sometimes we have been known to have an argument with the iranians because our trees are blocking out their sun or vica-versa.
the iranians really dont scare me much more than anyone else having the bomb. one for all and all for one and then we all die.
as i have pointed out a long time ago, iran was an ally of israel's at one time and if the iranians ever get past their islamic 'revolution' i suspect that we will be allies again.........a fine example is turkey and israel. imo iran would know better than to drop a bomb on israel because if she destroys us she surely knows she will be destroyed too.
the iranian bomb isnt meant solely against the 'zionists pigs', it is meant to be a warning (if it comes to pass) against the saudis, the sunnis in iraq, india.......and a few others.
we live in a fine world with large toys helping build a 'better' tmrw.
semantics are not needed when we are discussing nuclear bombs or the potential of them.
is the world a safer place with a nuclear arsenal in the hands of iran?
imo, no.
i have no problem with dialogue provided it is between two parties/ + that are able to speak with one another logically. in a utopian world it would be easy to say that no bombs in anyones hands would be best.
however, since we live in the real world with real differences on philosophy and the meaning of life and its values, suffice it for me to say that i prefer if NO nuclear bombs are within the grasp of any fanatics. why would anyone think that a dialogue between a logical party and a fanatic would have a good result? as for judging who is the logical party and who is the fanatic, that is up to the individual - and i trust there will be large disagreements about who is right and who is wrong.
it is too easy a (defense) lawyers ploy to simply play devil's advocate and suggest that if everyone had the bomb there would be no more war because everybody would have mutual respect for each other's pond.
weapons are made to be used, for the most part nuclear weapons have not been used because the only countries having them have been a limited number. that is changing, the more bombs, the greater the risk of one going off, and if one goes off the greater the risk of many exploding.
nuclear war is no longer the domain of the desk & chair military chief who wonders about MAD. it is within the realm of making sure maniacs and radical govts dont have the capability of igniting the world on fire using every means necessary to keep the fanatics from gaining nuclear capabilities.
and yes i am very much afraid of the fire and i dont believe the maniacs who make up a large segment of the fanatics - who the west is battling have the same belief system on the meaning of life. perhaps that is not politically correct, but i would rather make an enemy and be alive, then make a friend and be dead.
for those of us who believe in this life only, it seems an important task to make sure we create as good a place as possible here for our well being, sometimes that means that ugly things are done to achieve our tranquility.
as for dialogue and my objection to it sometimes, sanity, logic is a good place to start when trying to have a conversation but how do you talk to maniacs coherently?
case in point, north korea. just how are things going with that utopian based country as of today? how is china, the states, russia, and south korea doing in terms of handling 'the dialogue'?
seems to me every time i turn around the north koreans have the other 'dialogue' participants offering a little bit more.......this week south korea offered electricity to their 'great' northern brethren.
imo, the participants should tell north korea the following, "get rid of your bombs or be completely isolated,"
since no one can agree on what this means we have this 'logical' dialogue going between all participants except for the one who the talks are aimed at - a brutal utopian nightmare communist regime.
lets see where these dialogues go, perhaps to hades.
dialogues are fantasy based tools of diplomats and other foreign dept/ ministry/ formats and are typically destined to fail unless there is a cohesive plan by all attending and a common goal among the leaders.
nuclear game theory doesnt work this way, because countries without want their bombs
and countries with bombs dont want those without to have them.
participants know kings ransoms are at stake and that they can win big.
i said before i cannot blame the iranians for wanting a bomb. it makes perfect sense for them to try and achieve this.
thing is i live on the other side of their 'neighborly fence' and sometimes we have been known to have an argument with the iranians because our trees are blocking out their sun or vica-versa.
the iranians really dont scare me much more than anyone else having the bomb. one for all and all for one and then we all die.
as i have pointed out a long time ago, iran was an ally of israel's at one time and if the iranians ever get past their islamic 'revolution' i suspect that we will be allies again.........a fine example is turkey and israel. imo iran would know better than to drop a bomb on israel because if she destroys us she surely knows she will be destroyed too.
the iranian bomb isnt meant solely against the 'zionists pigs', it is meant to be a warning (if it comes to pass) against the saudis, the sunnis in iraq, india.......and a few others.
we live in a fine world with large toys helping build a 'better' tmrw.
Monday, August 01, 2005
Bibilical Theatre
nothing like a 'learned' rabbi inciting fear in people.......this from ha'aretz today....
Cancer On Them
i am sure when this rabbi is asked about this later - in a year or so - he will find some way to talk his way out of this hoped for pox. nothing better than maniacs leading the way in life.
makes it a joy for the rest of us to watch the coming fiascos. and of course this will all be filmed in the coming weeks as nothing more than reality t.v..
what i fear is that some of the settlers or perhaps their supporters have the 'masada complex' and will try their best to creat biblical theatre for all of us to watch.
Cancer On Them
i am sure when this rabbi is asked about this later - in a year or so - he will find some way to talk his way out of this hoped for pox. nothing better than maniacs leading the way in life.
makes it a joy for the rest of us to watch the coming fiascos. and of course this will all be filmed in the coming weeks as nothing more than reality t.v..
what i fear is that some of the settlers or perhaps their supporters have the 'masada complex' and will try their best to creat biblical theatre for all of us to watch.
Next Bloodbaths
Sudan Leader Killed In Accident
above is from the ny times.
the vice president of sudan died when his helicopter supposedly crashed yesterday in bad weather. look for sudan to be a tinderbox (excluding darfur which already suffers everyday).
the vice president represented the southern faction of sudan but was consistent in his viewpoint that there should only be one sudan and that it should not be broken up. his soldiers who sit in their camps have never widely believed this and they are certain to think that his death was no mere accident.
if the u.n. and others dont step in TODAY they will be too late.
OUR IRANIAN NEIGHBORS LOVE OF URANIUM
on a 'happier' daily note, it looks like all the negotiating that the euros did with iran regarding their nuclear program have come to fruit now.
iran announced yesterday they are going ahead with their program and in good measure just proved that the two past years talking to the euros bought them nothing but time to continue their research in achieving 'the bomb'. france and germany who spearheaded 'the talks' are now left red faced and will soon be asking for 'help'
- from whom they will get it is anybodys guess.
my warmest congratulations to the euros who believed they would honestly make a difference with the iranians their current leadership.
aaaaaaaah yes, another member of the nuclear club about to join. we should all be quite happy.
the question that begs is how do you really stop a country from attaining nuclear capability? there appears to be no answer on paper except outright sabotage or military operations such as when israel eliminated iraq's nuclear facility in the early 80's.
talking seems to only buy the other side time as is the case with the north koreans and now the iranians. same goes for pakistan and india.
once a country has a nuclear arsenal one does not simply change the outlook of the 'offending' country which knows that it must be taken seriously.
it is not only about creating a deterence against your 'enemies' but it is a mechanism which creates profound respect in even the most vocal of your critics.
if iran achieves the nuclear capability it re-shuffles the middle east card table clearly.
dialogue is created overnight among protaganists that would not have paid attention to each other the day before.
iran cannot be faulted for wanting to build a nuclear arsenal, it is the rest of us that need to decide how to react. everyday that goes by is another day closer to a new reality.
above is from the ny times.
the vice president of sudan died when his helicopter supposedly crashed yesterday in bad weather. look for sudan to be a tinderbox (excluding darfur which already suffers everyday).
the vice president represented the southern faction of sudan but was consistent in his viewpoint that there should only be one sudan and that it should not be broken up. his soldiers who sit in their camps have never widely believed this and they are certain to think that his death was no mere accident.
if the u.n. and others dont step in TODAY they will be too late.
OUR IRANIAN NEIGHBORS LOVE OF URANIUM
on a 'happier' daily note, it looks like all the negotiating that the euros did with iran regarding their nuclear program have come to fruit now.
iran announced yesterday they are going ahead with their program and in good measure just proved that the two past years talking to the euros bought them nothing but time to continue their research in achieving 'the bomb'. france and germany who spearheaded 'the talks' are now left red faced and will soon be asking for 'help'
- from whom they will get it is anybodys guess.
my warmest congratulations to the euros who believed they would honestly make a difference with the iranians their current leadership.
aaaaaaaah yes, another member of the nuclear club about to join. we should all be quite happy.
the question that begs is how do you really stop a country from attaining nuclear capability? there appears to be no answer on paper except outright sabotage or military operations such as when israel eliminated iraq's nuclear facility in the early 80's.
talking seems to only buy the other side time as is the case with the north koreans and now the iranians. same goes for pakistan and india.
once a country has a nuclear arsenal one does not simply change the outlook of the 'offending' country which knows that it must be taken seriously.
it is not only about creating a deterence against your 'enemies' but it is a mechanism which creates profound respect in even the most vocal of your critics.
if iran achieves the nuclear capability it re-shuffles the middle east card table clearly.
dialogue is created overnight among protaganists that would not have paid attention to each other the day before.
iran cannot be faulted for wanting to build a nuclear arsenal, it is the rest of us that need to decide how to react. everyday that goes by is another day closer to a new reality.