Posted in America, Iran, PLO, Palestinians, Terrorism on Jun 22nd, 2007
Jimmy Carter was one of, if not THE, most intelligent presidents that the United States has ever had. And, he was one of the most moral. He is a genuinely good guy. I would love to have him as a father-in-law, or a neighbor, or a coworker. If he wasn’t such an idiot, I would [...]
Permanent link to this post (56 words, estimated 13 secs reading time)
Read Full Post »
Posted in Palestinians, Society on Jun 21st, 2007
When talking about the ‘doom’ of the Palestinians, it is ironic to note that, on average, they are one of the most sophisticated Arabs in the Middle East. They have a high level of education. Their standard of living has been generally high. The infrastructure of the territories is comparatively more advanced.
The only Arabs better off [...]
Permanent link to this post (57 words, estimated 14 secs reading time)
Read Full Post »
Posted in Democracy, Palestinians, Society on Jun 20th, 2007
So, here’s the problem.
The Iraqis don’t understand the needs of civilization. For that matter, neither do the Palestinians.
Or, no. They understand the needs of a more traditional, rural and nomadic form of civilization, but they don’t really understand the needs of a civilization with closely interconnected dependencies.
Two hundred years ago, Palestinian (i.e., Syrian) and Iraqi civilization [...]
Permanent link to this post (59 words, estimated 14 secs reading time)
Read Full Post »
Posted in Democracy, Society on Jun 19th, 2007
Roger Zelazny once said (via a character in one of his books) that civilization means ‘the art of living in cities’.
It doesn’t quite mean that. The last part of the word, ‘-ization’, literally means ’action, process, or result of doing or making’*. And civil essentially means ‘of or proper to a citizen’ (derived from the Latin word [...]
Permanent link to this post (57 words, estimated 14 secs reading time)
Read Full Post »
Posted in Democracy, Society, War fighting on Jun 18th, 2007
It used to be acceptable to shoot looters.
In fact, when declaring a state of emergency, it was understood (even required) that you will be shooting looters.
The problem is that shooting looters is horrifying to people. The idea of shooting someone because they broke into a store and are carrying away a TV is just… well, [...]
Permanent link to this post (58 words, estimated 14 secs reading time)
Read Full Post »