Deep dirt

Rich Senators Defeat Minimum-Wage Hike
Congressional Pay Rises While Minimum Stays Same

This is what happened:

U.S. senators -who draw salaries of $162,100 a year and enjoy a raft of perks- have rejected a minimum wage hike from $5.15 an hour to $6.25 for blue-collar workers.

And who voted for and against it?

All the Democrats voted for the wage boost. All the negative votes were cast by Republicans. Four Republicans voted for it.

Wow! Four Republicans voted for it. They must really care about the poor. Doesn't it appear so? Well, they don't. They just care about their own re-election.

Three of the four are running for reelection and were probably worried about how voters would react if they knew that their well-heeled senators had turned down a pittance of an increase in the salaries of the lowest paid workers in the country.

So, they know that the low income needs the wage hike to survive, but that doesn't matter to them. They are just afraid of the backlash and they only care about it if it helps them to get re-elected. That's exactly what I mean by "deep dirt" which has corrupted most of the US politicians deep to their bones.

Shut the f*** up

Just glancing through my blog would easily indicate how I feel about (the state of) Israel in its current shape and existence. The existence which I wish had never come to reality (then we would have had a better world), but "thanks" to the British for creating this occupying and fascist state, Israel is a reality today and cannot be ignored. In short, Israel is not going away and is there to be, so it doesn't matter whether we like Israel or not; we have to learn to accept its existence and deal with it. Even any idiot should be able to recognize this fact and make the best out of the worst in dealing with Israel. But apparently, the new so-called president of Iran is even less than an idiot. His recent remarks that have caused celebrations in Washington and Tel Aviv is a clear indication of how stupid and how irresponsible he is. He is giving the US and Israel exactly what they want:

Referring to comments by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic revolution, Mr. Admadinejad said, "As the imam said, Israel must be wiped off the map." He went on by saying "The Islamic world will not let its historic enemy live in its heartland,"

And then:

White House Spokesman Scott McClellan said Washington took Iran's statement seriously."It underscores the concerns we have about Iran's nuclear intentions," he told reporters.

And Israeli foreign minister Silvan Shalom called Iran a "threat to the world". Yes, the foreign minister of the country which is well known to be the biggest threat to the peace and security of the world, has found an excellent opportunity to accuse Iran of being as such and use this opportunity to put more pressure on its super power backer to do to Iran what it did to Iraq. And that's all because of the stupidity of the so-called president of Iran.

I just can't believe Ahmadinejad has acted so irresponsibly, not that I had any faith in him before, but this is just too much. I just can't believe how easily he is providing the excuse for the bastards of Washington to collect justifications to attack Iran. I don't know who gives this idiot the right to endanger an entire nation with his extremely stupid remarks. I am simply outraged and very nervous by this that I feel like throwing up.

Read about it here.

Related:
I found this article an interesting one that points out to many interesting points and some facts of what Israel has been practically doing for years, if Ahmadinejad has only stupidly spoken about doing the same and nothing more. Here is an excerpt:

Does calling for the elimination of a state constitute “a crime against humanity”, as Shimon Peres contends? If so, then Ahmadinejad would be joined in the dock by every Israeli politician who has not only advocated but effected the policy of expansionism that continues to prevent a Palestinian nation state from emerging.

Iranian womens' never stopping push for identity

KARAJ, IRAN – The rewards are great - and the disappointments as powerful as any felt by firefighters around the world. But at Station No. 9 in Karaj, west of Tehran, a small unit prides itself on being like few others: the only squad of women firefighters in the Middle East... .

Sure it is not even nearly enough, but I'm glad it is there especially when considering this:

Finding a balance between Islam and gender issues is easier in Iran than in some other Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, where women are not allowed to drive, much less hold office.

And that's only because Iranian women are constantly resisting the oppression and are pushing to preserve their identity.

A women's unit might have made a difference in the holy city of Mecca in March 2002, during a blaze at a girls' school. Some 15 girls died and 50 were injured when Saudi religious police, according to eyewitnesses, beat the girls and kept them from leaving the burning building because they were not wearing "correct" Islamic dress.

And.. Saudi Arabia is one of the greatest Middle-Eastern allies of which "democracy loving/promoting" government? Absolutely; you guessed it right.

A bigger court room needed

So Saddam is on trial for killing of 148 people in Iraq. That's all? What about thousands of other Iraqis he massacred? What about invading Iran and imposing a war which continued for 8 years and resulted in the death of about one million Iranians and Iraqis, in addition to many hundreds of thousands of the injured and thousands of devastated families? What about the nature of his criminal invasion which resulted in the stabilization of the undemocratic regime in Iran, that immediately cracked down on peoples' democratic demands under the name of "war time security measures"? What about creating the condition which resulted in Iranians being under the rule of a theocratic regime for more than 25 years? What about many other direct and indirect crimes which were committed by Saddam and his regime?

Yes, there are so many "what about"s about Saddam and what he did which need to be answered, but while you are "entertaining" this kangaroo trial, just remember that in what he did, Saddam wasn't alone. Remember that the western countries including the US were whole-heartedly supporting Saddam when he was committing his crimes. In fact, Saddam was only a tool, an idiot tool and nothing more. Those who fed him are the real master criminals and those are the ones who should also be on trial for the crimes they committed while supporting Saddam and even after the expiration of Saddam. They all should be on trial, but not by a kangaroo Iraqi court, but by an international tribunal at the Hague.

Speaking of trials for crimes against humanity, you might also want to check out the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration. (Thanks to White Old Lady for pointing this out)

Darker days ahead of Iraqi people!

Local people say three female students at Basra University have been killed for failing to cover themselves in the black abaya and hijab.
This follows a notorious incident in March when gunmen attacked students in a park.
As the police stood by, the gunmen ripped the blouse from one woman, leaving her half-naked. Two male students who went to help her were shot.
The militia filmed all this, concentrating on the woman's humiliation; she was later said to have committed suicide.
The gunmen, loyal to a radical Shia cleric, distributed a CD of the footage in Basra. It was a warning to others not to allow men and women to mix in public.
"The militia were hitting us again and again with iron bars and rifle butts," said one of the students.
"I have left Basra with my family now because the militias control all aspects of our lives, because of the killing and the kidnapping."
He went on: "The miserable thing is that the British forces were just watching all this. They let the militia destroy the rule of law here."

This is scary, very scary.

I am afraid, I see even darker days ahead of Iraqi people; the dark days we, Iranians have been going through for over 25 years. We lived through this. We know it all. Although they could never completely defeat us, they badly hurt us. We know what it means. We know what it means to allow religion and religious people decide for every aspects of peoples' lives.

George Bush! You are not only a criminal, but also an idiot; if for nothing else in Iraq, at least for what you have done which has resulted in such significant growth of extreme religious domination. This is a crime against humanity by itself. You and your bastard gang members who also happen to be religious extremists (in addition to being the puppets of the rich corporations) have created the perfect conditions for all of this to happen.

The "REAL" Case for Israel; Dershowitz unveiled

I found this article very interesting:

It is not everyday that a professor hires a prestigious law firm to threaten the University of California Press.
Yet, for months, Alan Dershowitz, Harvard’s Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, tried to stop UC Press from publishing Norman Finkelstein’s Beyond Chutzpah. When the Press’ director Lynne Withey replied that she believed in academic freedom and would therefore go ahead with the book, Dershowitz sent letters to the university’s board of trustees and even to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, asking them to intervene on his behalf. Following both the trustees’ and governor’s decision not to get involved, one would have thought that the struggle would end. But now that the book is on the shelves, it seems that a new campaign is underway to cancel the author’s reading engagements, for example, at Harvard Bookstore and Barnes and Noble in Chicago. So what is the controversy about?...

....Finkelstein’s second move exposes how the rhetoric of the new anti-Semitism is used as a political tool to ward off and delegitimize all criticism of Israel. He writes:

The consequences of the calculated hysteria of a new anti-Semitism haven’t been just to immunize Israel from legitimate criticism. Its overarching purpose, like that of the “war against terrorism,” has been to deflect criticism of an unprecedented assault on international law.

Do what you would expect others to do for you

Once again, another disaster has struck our fellow world citizens. A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.6 on the Richter scale, has left more than 19,000 people dead, at least 42,000 may have been injured and some four million may be left without shelter. The quake was centred in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, approximately 95 km north-east of the capital, Islamabad, shaking cities and villages across Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

There is no need to tell why, we, all of us, have the responsibility to act and to do our best in this situataion. So, I make the story short; don't buy that cup of coffee today, don't buy that un-neccessary T-shirt today, don't buy that case of bear today, eat at home; don't go to the restaurant today. Don't do what you really don't have to do today or for a couple of days if it would result in saving some money. The cost of these non-essential shoppings, can save lives in the devastated region. Please visit the Canadian Red Cross society here and make a donation as large as you can. You can also donate at International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent.

Remember! This is the least we can do. Let's not fail in doing that. Let's make it easier to look at ourselves in the mirror.

You sacrify your baby, I'll keep mine, but I'll cheer for yours

Wars are not won without sacrifice and this war will require more sacrifice, more time and more resolve.

These are the words of George Bush, "the leader of the camp of brave fighters for democray and against the anti-democracies". But speaking of sacrifice, how much is this brave leader who, by the way, used dady's influence not to serve in the army at younger times, is willing to send his own twin girls to Iraq to fight for democracy and if needed, to become two of the sacrifices for "freedom"? Really! How much?

An idiot terrorist on TV

O'REILLY: North Korea proves that, although we don't know if North Korea is going to do what they say they're going to do. So it's a dangerous world. But look, I'm not opposed to having conversations with Syria and Iran to try to help us out over there, but I don't -- Syria, I think you could do it, because as you said, you know, it's Bashar's life. I mean, we could take his life, and we should take his life if he doesn't help us out.

When Pat Robertson openly called for assassination of the democratically elected great leader of Venezuela, nothing happened to him and he is still free to make his terrorist remarks be known.

Now, another garbage has spoken of terror and once again nothing nothing will happen to him. As can be read in the quote above, Bill O'Reilly has recently openly talked about his desire to "take Bashir Asad's life". And he still is one of the main "Fox news" people (Note in the quote: ....IF HE DOESN't HELP US OUT" - could a bullying attitude be more clear than that?). O'Reilly still opens his big and dirty mouth every day at Fox. Perhaps that is exactly because of this "terrorist quality" of his that he is so much loved by, well, many other terrorists in general, and the voice of terrorism; Fox News, in particular. I guess, as long as one is American, and is in the side of Washington criminals, it is ok to talk about killings and assassinations and nothing will happen to them. Perhaps that's why the double standards in the US bring the US nothing but hatred. And the unfortunate part is that even those Americans who hate these attitudes of the people in charge, will be painted with the same brush.

Certainly, idiots such as O'Reilly are not doing the US any favour. In fact, with friends like this idiot, Americans do not need enemies. "O'Reilly"s are performing just fine on behalf of those who hate the Americans.

What's wrong with cutting and running?

That's the question asked by retired Army general William Odom (who served as Director of the National Security Agency under President Reagan) about the continued US military presence in Iraq. Odom says, "I'm trying to think like a strategist, and in war, as well as in politics and diplomacy, one has to know when to withdraw and when to attack. This was a misguided act and it requires a strategic division and moral confidence to turn it around."
...AMY GOODMAN: So, you say the arguments against pulling out, we’d leave behind a civil war, we’d lose credibility on the world stage, it would embolden the insurgency and cripple the move toward democracy, Iraq would become a haven for terrorists, Iranian influence in Iraq would increase, unrest might spread in the region and/or draw in Iraq's neighbors, Shiite-Sunni clashes would worsen, we haven't fully trained the Iraqi military and police forces yet and talk of deadlines would undercut the morale of our troops. You say all of this has already happened.
LT. GEN. WILLIAM ODOM: Sure. Just take the last one. You can see from the exchanges over the training of troops that went up to the Congress the other day, when General Abizaid and General Casey both gave a rather dismal picture of progress in training up units that can fight on their own in Iraqi’s forces. They said only one, Rumsfeld, previously had, within [inaudible] before, had told Congress that three, and the number was surging, and, you know, he gave her a rosy picture. And they were much more cautious.... .

Listen/Watch to this interview here.