Friday, January 9, 2009
My Atheism is not a rejection of your god
Uniform Velocity: My Atheism Is Not A Rejection Of Your God
it is impossible to hate what one views as non-existent, but I do take issue with the actions carried out in the name of religion and the anthropomorphic attributes placed upon a supposed 'higher being".
Canada condones war crimes
Bill Longstaff: Canada condones war crimes
The Isreali assault on Gaza is unequivocally a criminal act. To cite only one item of international law Israel has violated, I offer Article 33 of Convention IV of the Geneva Conventions relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War:
No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.
Israel's massive collective punishment of the Gazan people clearly violates this article. Staunchly defending Israel's behaviour, as our government is doing, just as clearly puts this country in the position of condoning, indeed supporting, war crimes.
I am usually proud of my country and very happy to be living here, but sometimes I am ashamed of it.
Robert Fisk: Counting the lies and the dead
Rusty Idols: Robert Fisk: Counting the lies and the dead. <READ ME!
And our leaders will huff and puff and remind the world that Hamas originally broke the ceasefire. It didn't. Israel broke it, first on 4 November when its bombardment killed six Palestinians in Gaza and again on 17 November when another bombardment killed four more Palestinians
And our leaders will huff and puff and remind the world that Hamas originally broke the ceasefire. It didn't. Israel broke it, first on 4 November when its bombardment killed six Palestinians in Gaza and again on 17 November when another bombardment killed four more Palestinians
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Red Cross Reports Grisly Find In Gaza
stageleft:. life on the left side : Red Cross Reports Grisly Find in Gaza < read me.
Israel Accused of Blocking Aid to Wounded
The
International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday that it had
found at least 15 bodies and several children — emaciated but alive —
in a row of shattered houses in the Gaza Strip and accused the Israeli
military of preventing ambulances from reaching the site for four days.
Red
Cross officials said rescue crews had received specific reports of
casualties in the houses and had been trying since Saturday to send
ambulances to the area, located in Zaytoun, a neighborhood south of
Gaza City. They said the Israeli military did not grant permission
until Wednesday afternoon.
In an unusual public statement
issued by its Geneva headquarters, the Red Cross called the episode
“unacceptable” and said the Israeli military had “failed to meet its
obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and
evacuate the wounded.”
(more)
The Right-Wing running scared of the rise of Jack Layton and the NDP
blogging a dead horse: The Layton factor (or why Robert Silver can't take success for an answer) < read me.
The party has increased its seats in every election since Layton became
leader and in the Commons has rewritten the 2005 budget to make key
investments that are building affordable housing and putting buses on
the roads right now.
And as the willingness of Liberals to agree
to the coalition policy agreement shows, Layton's NDP understands the
modern economy better than any “tax cuts will save us all” Liberal or
Tory government ever has.
Layton's (latest) accomplishment has
been the unprecedented coalition agreement reached with Mr Dion with
the tacit support of Bloc MPs – a feat considered impossible by Ottawa
insiders. No New Democrat leader has come this close to producing a
stronger economy or fundamentally changing the culture of Ottawa
before. As a result, Layton is in the strongest position among his
party and Canadians who want change.
The party has increased its seats in every election since Layton became
leader and in the Commons has rewritten the 2005 budget to make key
investments that are building affordable housing and putting buses on
the roads right now.
And as the willingness of Liberals to agree
to the coalition policy agreement shows, Layton's NDP understands the
modern economy better than any “tax cuts will save us all” Liberal or
Tory government ever has.
Layton's (latest) accomplishment has
been the unprecedented coalition agreement reached with Mr Dion with
the tacit support of Bloc MPs – a feat considered impossible by Ottawa
insiders. No New Democrat leader has come this close to producing a
stronger economy or fundamentally changing the culture of Ottawa
before. As a result, Layton is in the strongest position among his
party and Canadians who want change.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
More Toronto sewer news.
TheStar.com | GTA | Sewer fix will take 18 months
It will take 18 months and up to $30 million to build 600 metres of sewer to bypass the cracked part.
The good news is that there's no sign yet that the big sewer is leaking
sewage outward, or collapsing inward. Its flow – three times the volume
of the Don River in dry weather – is unimpeded, carrying the waste from
one-third of the city to the Ashbridge's Bay sewage treatment plant.
Israel intetionally targeting civilians
The Raw Story | Norwegian doctor: Israel intentionally targeting civilians
"We have been doing surgery around the clock," Gilbert replied. "I just talked to to one of my colleagues in the ICU who has not been sleeping for three days and they hospital is completely overcrowded and we are running six, seven OR's and there are injuries that you just don't want to see in this world. Children coming in with open abdomens and legs cut off.
"We just had a child who left. We had to amputate both legs and the arms and the only crime they have done is been civilians -- Palestinians living in Gaza. The relief now is not more doctors and more drugs the relief now is to stop the bombing immediately. This can not go on. It is a disaster."
Venezuala Expels Israeli Ambassador
Venezuela Expels Israeli Ambassador , Chavez Fiercly Critical Of Gaza Conflict, Israel's "Barbarism" - CBS News
Chavez earlier condemned the Israelis carrying out the military
campaign as "murderers" and urged Jews in Venezuela to take a stand
against the Israeli government.
"Now I hope that the Venezuelan Jewish community speaks out against
this barbarism. Do it. Don't you strongly reject all acts of
persecution?" Chavez said.
"How far will this barbarism go?" he said in an appearance on state
television. "The president of Israel should be taken before an
international court together with the president of the United States,
if the world had any conscience."
Chavez earlier condemned the Israelis carrying out the military
campaign as "murderers" and urged Jews in Venezuela to take a stand
against the Israeli government.
"Now I hope that the Venezuelan Jewish community speaks out against
this barbarism. Do it. Don't you strongly reject all acts of
persecution?" Chavez said.
"How far will this barbarism go?" he said in an appearance on state
television. "The president of Israel should be taken before an
international court together with the president of the United States,
if the world had any conscience."
The Angry Arab New Service
The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب
A source on politics, war, The Middle East, Arabic poetry, and art.
A source on politics, war, The Middle East, Arabic poetry, and art.
B'Tselem - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
B'Tselem - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
B'TSELEM - The Israeli Information
Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories was established in
1989 by a group of prominent academics, attorneys, journalists, and
Knesset members. It endeavors to document and educate the Israeli
public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied
Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the
Israeli public, and help create a human rights culture in Israel.
B'TSELEM - The Israeli Information
Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories was established in
1989 by a group of prominent academics, attorneys, journalists, and
Knesset members. It endeavors to document and educate the Israeli
public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied
Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the
Israeli public, and help create a human rights culture in Israel.
Genocide in Gaza
Gaza Siege: News and Analysis: Gaza: Propaganda, Perception, and Reality - William Cook
A different agenda is at work here, an
agenda that seeks the total elimination of the Palestinian people as a
people, subject to the authority and control of the Israeli
government....Let’s hope reality overcomes deception.
A different agenda is at work here, an
agenda that seeks the total elimination of the Palestinian people as a
people, subject to the authority and control of the Israeli
government....Let’s hope reality overcomes deception.
Harper's Failing State
Accidental Deliberations: Harper's Failing State <read me!
...
So to sum up, the Harper Cons have broken their own self-imposed
deadline to do something about fuel efficiency by flat-out forgetting
it existed, and left dozens of Canadians in danger due to their failure
to learn anything from an equally well-publicized mistake two years
ago. Which would seem to confirm that about the only thing Canadians
can count on from Harper is continued incompetence - and offer all the
more reason to hope to see some adults in charge at the earliest
opportunity.
...
So to sum up, the Harper Cons have broken their own self-imposed
deadline to do something about fuel efficiency by flat-out forgetting
it existed, and left dozens of Canadians in danger due to their failure
to learn anything from an equally well-publicized mistake two years
ago. Which would seem to confirm that about the only thing Canadians
can count on from Harper is continued incompetence - and offer all the
more reason to hope to see some adults in charge at the earliest
opportunity.
Descent 2 pics
Crawler Glam Shots: Descent 2 Photos Will Make You Scream For More Crawlers < click me for lots of pics
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Push - It's Heroes - The Movie!
Push: It's Heroes — The Movie! <watch me!
The trailer for Dakota Fanning's superpowered teen rebel movie Push has finally come out... and the storyline looks a lot like your fave mutant angst show, Heroes.
Except that it looks action-movie awesome, with tons of superpowered
people throwing down and telekinesis-assisted gun battles. And it'll
only last a couple of hours, which will probably limit the amount of
superpowered incest. Details (and spoilers) below.
The trailer for Dakota Fanning's superpowered teen rebel movie Push has finally come out... and the storyline looks a lot like your fave mutant angst show, Heroes.
Except that it looks action-movie awesome, with tons of superpowered
people throwing down and telekinesis-assisted gun battles. And it'll
only last a couple of hours, which will probably limit the amount of
superpowered incest. Details (and spoilers) below.
Israel bombs school - kills at least 40
Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Scores killed as Gaza school hit
More than 640 people have been killed and 2,800 others wounded in the 11-day operation, most of them civilians.
...
More than 640 people have been killed and 2,800 others wounded in the 11-day operation, most of them civilians.
...
Fares Akram, a Gaza city
resident, told Al Jazeera there was "no safe place in Gaza" as "the
Israeli war planes don't stop dropping bombs and firing missiles into
Gaza".
Akram says his wife, who is nine-months pregnant, is living in fear
of going into labour both because of how dangerous it is to leave their
home and because "she knows hospitals in Gaza are in chaos".
He said that while Gazans appreciated demonstrations staged across
the Arab world in protest at Israel's actions in the Strip, most
believe that while the US backs the Israeli offensive the assault will
continue.
In addition, the humanitarian situation in Gaza – already poor
following the 18-month Israeli blockade of the strip that left the
territory desperately short of fuel, food and medical supplies – is
worsening.
John Ging, the head of Unrwa, said he was "shocked" by "the
brutality of the injuries" he had seen during a visit to the Shifa
hospital in Gaza.
Eyeless in Gaza
Dawg's Blawg: Eyeless in Gaza <read me!
The New York Times' Jerusalem bureau chief isn't impressed:
"Israel has never restricted media access like this before, and it should be ashamed," said Ethan Bronner.... "It's betraying the principles by which it claims to live."
Brian Eno: Stealing Gaza
Canadian Dimension Blog / Musician Brian Eno: Stealing Gaza <read me!
The Israelis are a gifted and resourceful people who fully deserve the right to live in peace, but who seem intent on squandering every chance to allow that to happen. It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that this conflict serves the political and economic purposes of Israel so well that they have every interest in maintaining it. While there is fighting they can continue to build illegal settlements. While there is fighting they continue to receive huge quantities of military aid from the United States. And while there is fighting they can avoid looking candidly at themselves and the ruthlessness into which they are descending.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Third-hand smoke a hazard too
A New Cigarette Hazard - ‘Third-Hand Smoke’ - NYTimes.com
Third-hand smoke is what one smells when a smoker gets in an elevator after going outside for a cigarette, he said, or in a hotel room where people were smoking. “Your nose isn’t lying,” he said. “The stuff is so toxic that your brain is telling you: ’Get away.’”
I always knew third-hand smoke was not good for you.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Intent to kill civilians
Rolling Back the Tide of Extremism, One Post at a Time: What Kind of Sick Bastard Would Say Something Like That? < read me!
Israel has inflicted a massively disproportional attack on Gaza. Apologists for the Israeli government and military are quick to proclaim that Israel doesn't target innocent Gazans, that it doesn't intentionally kill innocents.
Bullshit. Utterly vile, rotten bullshit.
Conservatives not keen on the Listeriosis investigation they promised.
Impolitical: Listeriosis investigation? Not so much
"With listeria, which killed a few-fold more people than Walkerton, we don't have one. It's no exaggeration to say that the Harper government has done less than any government in recent Canadian history to seek to understand what went wrong when Canadian citizens died. And it has sought to do less just because it knows it's culpable.
Death and destruction continues in Gaza - approved by Bush and Harper.
LeDaro: Gaza, Death and Destruction Continues
All the fair-minded people around the world are demonstrating against this uneven and unfair war. Palestinians in Gaza are already living in sub-human conditions and now this severe punishment. This approach of Israel will not bring peace in the region and may bring upheaval around the world. Sensible leaders must speak up. Unfortunately Bush and Harper cannot be considered amongst the sensible ones.
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