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Alex Harrowell has a post on a poll in Lebanon, which ranks the local population favorite's nations and world leaders. It turns out that in Chirac is the most admired Western leader and that Hugo Chávez is as popular as Ahmadinejad.
Alex Harrowell has a post on a poll in Lebanon, which ranks the local population favorite's nations and world leaders. It turns out that in Chirac is the most admired Western leader and that Hugo Chávez is as popular as Ahmadinejad.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 07:39 AM in Hugo Chavez, Lebanon, Middle East | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
I just read this disturbing (and biased) post on Bullwinkle blog written by Maggie about Ségolène Royal and her supposed anti-Semitism and I think that it shows how easy it is to jump on a French politician without knowing or wanting to know the fact. Contrary to what is implied in the post, the supposed incident had nothing to do with anti-Semitism and the supposed preference of France for Arabs, but it simply had to do with a problem of translation. The French Ambassador to Lebanon who was present when the Hezbollah member of parliament made that hateful remark about Israel and he didn't leave either, which means that he didn't hear and more importantly, Ségolène Royal made the strong point that Israel was not entity, but a state, which had the right to defend herself. I would also inform Maggie that during the debate with her socialist rivals, Madame Royal was the only one who was against allowing Iran even to get nuclear energy for civilian purposes because she believed that Iran shouldn't be trusted given the threats of Ahmadinejad against Israel. The best proof that whoever wrote this biased post on Ségolène Royal just wanted to make a hateful and prejudicial point about the French is that she dined Tzipi Livni last night and met with Ehud Olmert today. Therefore, unless the argument is Livni and Olmert are less concerned about anti-Semitism than Maggie is and that they are, to use an expression, which I despise, self-hating Jews, this whole affair is much ado about nothing.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 01:39 PM in bigotry, disintegration, ethics, France, fundamentalism, international politics, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, racism, west | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
"As the realists again rise triumphant, stability will trump reform. […] These realists did not blanch as Saddam massacred tens of thousands of civilians.
New policies may revive old dictatorships. European governments find it easier to trade with the Revolutionary Guards-operated companies in Iran than press for economic opportunities for ordinary Iranians. […] Hatred of Bush trumps declared principles. Because Bush made democratization and reform the centerpiece of his Middle East strategy, many Western progressives dismiss them as priorities or even as desirable. After all, in progressive rhetoric how can Bush be both an idiot and correct?
Instead of democracy, many progressives have come to romanticize "resistance." They have become attracted to the same rhetorical motifs projected by liberation movements of a generation past and Islamists today. Embrace of multiculturalism has morphed into a cultural relativism that justifies oppression in the name of culture.
The majority of Arab civil society may celebrate Bush's election rebuke and welcome the end of the Bush years but, as anger fades and Washington re-embraces realism, Arab reformers from Rabat to Riyadh may find they have missed their best opportunity, while dictators and theocrats seize theirs." Michael Rubin, "Arabs may one day miss George W. Bush."
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 09:03 AM in America, Bush , Current Affairs, international politics, Iraq, Lebanon, Middle East, multiculturalism, quote, terrorism, violence, War | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Juan Cole argues that the assassination of Pierre Gemayel is yet another example of the Bush's foreign policy and of its "dishonest rhetoric of democratization". Money quote:
The problem is that when you crush the Pushtuns of Afghanistan, who traditionally ruled the country, they have means of hitting back (ask the Canadian troops in Qandahar). When you crush the Sunni Arabs of Iraq, who had traditionally ruled they have ways of organizing a guerrilla movement and acting as spoilers of Bush's new Kurdish-Shiite axis in Baghdad. When you crush Hamas even after they won the elections in early 2006, they have means of continuing to struggle.
In Lebanon, Bush egged on the pro-Hariri movement against the Syrians and their allies. Then he egged on Israel to bomb the Shiites of southern Lebanon (and, mysteriously, the rest of Lebanon, too). So he tried to create the March 14th alliance around Hariri as the winners who take all in Lebanon.
So obviously there will be trouble about this. Everything Bush touches turns to ashes, bombings, assassinations. He doesn't know how to compromise and he doesn't know how to influence his neo-colonial possessions so that they can compromise.
I wonder if what is happening right now wasn't unavoidable given the fact that the only thing, which the Lebanon War conflict accomplish was the weakening of the Siniora Government and through it the empowerment of Syria, Hezbollah, and Iran. The problem is that there are no course of action, which can temperate the situation, which doesn't involve the eating of humble pie by the administration. However, we know from experience that humility isn't something, which this administration is good at demonstrating, especially when it still has the ability of framing the debate in absolute terms to avoid making the difficult decision of bargaining with the devil to avoid the explosion of the region.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 12:37 PM in America, Bush , conflict, Current Affairs, different perspective , disintegration, future, international politics, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, security, terrorism, violence, War, west | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Michael Totten has the best post on the assassination of Pierre Gemayel and its implications. Money quote:
All the assassination victims after Rafik Hariri, a Sunni, have been Christians. But the most heated sectarian tension right now is between Sunnis and Shias. The Christians aren't in a fighting mood, but many say the Sunnis are. The Syrian regime cannot restrain itself from butchering its Lebanese enemies, but it looks to me like someone in Damascus just flinched.
I wonder if the increase political instability in Lebanon and the weakness of the Siniora government isn't another proof of the weakening of the America's influence in the region. In spite of the fact, that Blair asked Syria and Iran to help in Iraq, it seems as though those two countries have decided that they are in position of strength and that they will not help the stability in the region until the Bush administration makes some concession, but the key question is whether it will or not? The recent talks about bombing Iran will cause more harm than good in my opinion because it will show that the Bush administration has changed or rather that its difficulties in Iraq haven't made its views of the region evolve.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 06:24 PM in America, Bush , conflict, Current Affairs, disintegration, fundamentalism, international politics, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Middle East, terrorism, trends, War | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, admitted yesterday that he regretted kidnapping the two Israelis soldiers and starting a war, which only destructive both the Israelis and Lebanese people. For Nasrallah's regrets to become meaningful, he must learn from his "mistake" and change the nihilist's view of Hezbollah, which makes its militants believe that having the destruction of Lebanon is worth a draw or a not only fruitless, but bitter victory against Israel. The problem is that politics isn't always about facts and reality, but about passion and idealism even when they are destructive.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 06:07 AM in Current Affairs, international politics, Israel, Lebanon, news, terrorism, violence | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Michael Totten tells us that Israel has finally realized that it can't disarm Hezbollah with force. Is this realization going to lead it to implement a new strategy, which may be political unpopular in the short-term, but more effective in the long term or rather to continue the same old strategy in the hope that its ineffectiveness leads to a more spectacular failure? John Robb from Global Guerillas gives us some idea of what future wars will look like and by reading his post, it is easy to understand why winning a war against organizations like Hezbollah will get more complicated and why new and more innovative strategies are necessary.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 12:58 PM in Current Affairs, international politics, Israel, Lebanon, news, politics, security, terrorism, violence, west | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
The New York Times titled one of its editorials a few days ago "Waiting for Jacques" and today, Jacques Chirac not only came but he did the right thing. He increased the French presence in UNIFIL from a ridiculous 400 to 2000. So I am waiting for those who bashed France by talking of surrender and of cowardice to recognize the fact that Chirac has done something that needs to be praised and that France's decision to become a significant part of UNIFIL no matter how it came about was moral and responsible. So to all the French bashers, do you have the guts to admit that France is a great country or does your courage limits itself to mock the importance that France place on finesse and complexity? I am waiting for Kevin Drum and Captain Ed to have some good things to say about France now.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 11:02 PM in conflict, culture, Current Affairs, different perspective , France, international politics, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, violence, War | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
"I am about to let you in on a few secrets, but I'm far from sure that this is the smartest thing I can do. In fact, it may be one of the dumbest. Because I can tell another story when the war is still in the background and so wrap up another week, then wait for things to return to normal and go back to dealing with marginal matters like racism, discrimination, xenophobia and the difficulty of coping as an Arab in the Jewish state. [...] it's like this: I was against the war, but after it started I wanted the army to lose, or at least not to feel victorious. My hands tremble as I write, but in this war I was against Israel - make no mistake - my country. This has nothing to do with the other side, it has nothing to do with what I think about the side that fought in this round against the IDF. It's true that I would prefer that the IDF, that the State of Israel lose without the consequence being that soldiers die. I would like to see it lose in arm-wrestling. Rows of tables in which soldiers from both sides sit and arm-wrestle. I would prefer a loss by penalty kicks." Sayed Kashua.
"Uri, my love. All your short life, we have all learned from you, from the strength and determination to go your own way.[...]You were the leftie of your battalion and you were respected for it, because you stood your ground, without giving up even one of your military assignments ... won't say anything now about the war you were killed in. We, our family, have already lost in this war. The state of Israel will have its own reckoning ...
Uri was such an Israeli child; even his name was very Israeli and Hebrew. He was the essence of Israeli-ness as I would want it to be. An Israeli-ness that has almost been forgotten, that is something of a curiosity. And he was a person so full of values. That word has been so eroded and has become ridiculed in recent years. In our crazy, cruel and cynical world, it's not 'cool' to have values, or to be a humanist, or to be truly sensitive to the suffering of the other, even if that other is your enemy on the battlefield.
However, I learned from Uri that it is both possible and necessary to be all that. We have to guard ourselves, by defending ourselves both physically and morally. We have to guard ourselves from might and simplistic thinking, from the corruption that is in cynicism, from the pollution of the heart and the ill-treatment of humans, which are the biggest curse of those living in a disastrous region like ours. " David Grossman writing about the Death of his son Uri in the Israeli-Lebanon Conflict in The Observer.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 12:00 AM in conflict, Current Affairs, identity, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, quote, War | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
France has declined to contribute a high number of troops to the UNIFIL, the UN force, which is going to make sure that the cease-fire holds as required by resolution 1701. The problem with the French refusal is that they were one of the sponsors of this resolution and that they signaled they would be willing to play a major role in the policing of the cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel. Captain ED argued that this is just another French surrender, and writes that, "Since World War I, the French have shown a great capacity to demand action and little stomach for providing it. In this manner, they mirror almost perfectly the UN itself." He is of course wrong for I believe that the French ambiguity has more to do with politics than with perfidy or cowardice. Chirac is very weak politically. Next year, the French will choose a new president (it is almost a certainty that Chirac won't run and even if he did, he would lose). Chirac used all of France's diplomatic might because he could do it since he had public support. The problem with contributing a large number of troops is that many soldiers may die and that Chirac, the comatose Villepin government, and the French right would pay a heavy political price, which could cost them both the presidential and the legislative elections. What Chirac is trying to do by arguing that there isn't a clear mandate that would make the UNIFIL effective is to get some cover by forcing the UN either to give it more power or to accept France's refusal. Things may change if this decision becomes unpopular in France and if a consensus is then developed in the French political class, which makes it clear that it is in the national interest of France to send more troops to Lebanon. Such a consensus would depoliticize the issue and make sure that if a tragedy were to happen, it would used to make the political point that the Right's foreign policy is unrealistic and ineffective. The ironic is that Chirac is in the same position as President Bush in his own country, he has moral clarity, but no moral authority as Tom Friedman would say.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 02:27 PM in contradictions and betrayals, Current Affairs, different perspective , europe, France, international law, international politics, Israel, Lebanon, news, War | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
"What Israelis feel today most of all is a sense of shame. Not shame for waging a supposedly immoral war, as our critics abroad would put it, but shame for not waging a moral war with greater vigor. And shame, especially, over the quality of those we've allowed to lead us to this disastrous moment." Yossi Klein Halevi.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 02:51 AM in Israel, Lebanon, quote, War | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
David Ignatius writes his column today that politics should follow the Lebanon war. He makes the following point, "The way out of the Middle East mess is through political agreements, not unilateral moves or quixotic military campaigns. Iran and its proxies have been marking one bloody path to the future; America and its allies must work urgently to construct an alternative." I don't think that many believe that politics is better than war and that force isn't the right way to deal with groups, which use terrorism. Can politics work unless both parties believe that there can only be a political solution to a conflict? I wonder if the lesson of the last 10 years in the Middle East isn't that although force does not provide solution, it is a more popular course of action than diplomacy because with the latter one takes time and as experience shows, time is not the ally of those who make the tough decision to talk and to bargain with the devil. Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Barack were the victims of that unfortunate principle.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 06:49 PM in contradictions and betrayals, Current Affairs, different perspective , disintegration, international politics, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, terrorism, violence, War | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
John Robb from Global Guerrillas has a great post on Hezbollah and the "legitimacy" question. He argues that there is an inversion of legitimacy taking place with Hezbollah, which gains legitimacy at the expense of the state "by providing sys-admin like functionality." I agree with him and I believe that the frightening thing is that much of the world, especially the United States haven't learn to deal with non-state actors even though they are soon becoming the biggest threat to the stability of our world.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 12:10 PM in conflict, Current Affairs, different perspective , disintegration, international politics, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, terrorism, violence, War | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
"What should really worry the country is not whether the Democrats are being dragged to the left by antiwar activists who haven't thought a whit about the larger struggle we're in. What should worry the country is that the Bush team and the Republican Party, which control all the levers of power and claim to have thought only about this larger struggle, are in total denial about where their strategy has led. [...] we are on a losing trajectory in Iraq, and, as the latest London plot underscores, the wider war with radical Islam is only getting wider. We need to reassess everything we are doing in this "war on terrorism" and figure out what is worth continuing, what needs changing and what sacrifice we need to demand from every American to match our means with our ends. Yes, the Democrats could help by presenting a serious alternative. But unless the party in power for the next two and half years shakes free of its denial, we are in really, really big trouble." Tom Friedman
"Already, we hear Hezbollah trying to claim victory. But others, in Lebanon and across the region, are asking themselves what Hezbollah's extremism has really achieved: hundreds of thousands of people displaced from their homes. [...] Innocent people in Lebanon, in Israel and across the Middle East have suffered long enough at the hands of extremists. It is time to overcome old patterns of violence and secure a just, lasting and comprehensive peace. This is our goal, and now we have laid out the steps to achieve it. Our policy is ambitious, yes, and difficult to achieve. But it is right. It is realistic. And ultimately, it is the only effective path to a more hopeful future."Condoleezza Rice
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 02:27 AM in America, contradictions and betrayals, Current Affairs, disintegration, future, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, news, politics, quote, security, terrorism, violence, War | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
The UN passed resolution 1701 last night, which was voted unanimously by its Security Council. Although the war is continuing, the hope is that the violence will shortly stop. I wonder what will be political consequences of this resolution and of a cease-fire not only for Israel , Lebanon, and the Middle East but also for Ehud Olmert and on Fouad Siniora. My hope is that there won't be not only a return to the status quo ante to use the favorite term of Condi Rice, but that also that the people of Lebanon and of Israel won't have to leave another long and horrific month as the one they just live. Well, I have the right to dream!
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 12:28 PM in America, conflict, Current Affairs, disintegration, France, future, international politics, Israel, justice, Lebanon, Middle East, news, violence, War | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Tom Friedman, in his column, talks about the difference that exists between extremists and the rest of the populations, between the creators and the destroyers and it is that extremists love death more than life. He talks about the fact that Israel was doing everything that it could to be an attractive place for Warren Buffett while Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader was preparing for war and to cause chaos. Friedman likes to say that there will be peace in the Middle East when people will start to love life more than they love death. He is right. The truth is that people who can't dreams or hope start to idolize death and what supposedly comes with it. I wonder if Nasrallah would be the head of the Hezbollah if he believe that he could still be a hero to many Arabs by being an entrepreneur and inspire them to have bigger and more hopeful dreams. It may be an illusion to believe this, but it is an hopeful illusion because it makes me believe that extremism and violence can't win over all of humanity. Harold Evans, in his article in the Guardian yesterday, showed us why "we" can't allow ourselves to become admirers or lovers of death and of destruction.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 04:09 PM in contradictions and betrayals, Current Affairs, different perspective , disintegration, fundamentalism, future, international politics, Israel, justice, Lebanon, Middle East, news, politics, power, terrorism, violence, War, west | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Adnan Hajj is very quickly becoming more famous than his doctored photos of Qana. Even though Reuters stopped publishing his work and fired him, I think that the harm is done for what matters with image is unfortunately too often the first impression that they leave on our minds. This bizarre affair leads to some interesting questions about the way the media covers conflict such as the current one in the Mideast. Is it better to get it fast than to get it right? Is every photo publishable? I don't this scandal is about manipulation, but rather about the fact that the media still has to learn how to deal fairly with conflicts such as this one and that so much of what it is doing is improvised and depends on good faith. If the case of Adnan Hajj proves something is that assumption is the mother of all disasters and when editors can no longer presume that their journalists and photographers are getting the story right, they have to check their work.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 11:48 AM in conflict, contradictions and betrayals, Current Affairs, different perspective , disintegration, ethics, Israel, Lebanon, Media, Middle East, news, Television, War | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 07:05 AM in America, Israel, Lebanon, news, politics, violence, War | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
After the tragedy of Qana, I found myself wondering if Israel can achieve its objectives by continuing this war. Yesterday, on Meet the Press, Tom Friedman has interesting comments on the situation. He said that the war wasn't working for Israel and that it should stop know because it is clear that the only thing that will be achieved by continuing the war is more deaths. Israel didn't choose this war and as Bernard Henry Levy wrote last week in Le Monde, the war chose Israel as fate, sometimes, chooses us to accomplish difficult tasks. Paul Krugman makes the most interesting point about the crisis in his column this morning:
For Americans who care deeply about Israel, one of the truly nightmarish things about the war in Lebanon has been watching Israel repeat the same mistakes the United States made in Iraq. It's as if Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been possessed by the deranged spirit of Donald Rumsfeld. [...] What Israel needs now is a way out of the quagmire. And since Israel doesn't appear ready to reoccupy southern Lebanon, that means doing what it should have done from the beginning: try restraint and diplomacy. And Israel will negotiate from a far weaker position than seemed possible just three weeks ago. [...] Again, Israel has the right to protect itself. If all-out war with Hezbollah becomes impossible to avoid, so be it. But bombing Lebanon isn't making Israel more secure. [...] The hard truth is that Israel needs, for its own sake, to stop a bombing campaign that is making its enemies stronger, not weaker.
The question is whether it is more difficult to admit that the war isn't working and to stop than to continue it.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 06:51 AM in conflict, Current Affairs, disintegration, international politics, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, politics, power, violence, War | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Harper's magazine had a provocative cartoon last Thursday of Rice's surprise visit to Lebanon. It made the same point, which Mourhaf Jouejati, director of Middle Eastern Studies at George Washington University makes in Roger Cohen's column in the New York Times and that is that, "The United States has been more a party to this conflict than an arbiter. [...] Lebanese democracy, a supposedly cherished American aim, has been sacrificed for the Israeli ally." I don't quite agree with this point, but unfortunately, what I think doesn't matter. What is important is how the world perceives the United States and its role in this crisis. As William Arkin points out in the Washington Post, perception is reality and facts matter less than the image created by the way people interprets them.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 02:15 PM in America, conflict, Current Affairs, disintegration, international politics, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, news, politics, violence, War | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Everybody seems to want a piece of Condoleezza Rice and to want to blame her for the failures of the Bush Foreign policy. Eugene Robinson writes in his column in the Washington Post that the current conflict is Condi's war:
It was Rice who waited more than a week, giving Israel time to pound the daylights out of Lebanon, before finding time to visit Beirut and Tel Aviv and attend a crisis summit in Rome. It was Rice who spent her trip categorically ruling out a quick cease-fire, which made one wonder if she really needed to travel at all, since she could have just thumbed out a text message: "2 soon 2 stop boom boom."
The most significant development from Rice's swing through the region was that she took personal ownership of the bloody, escalating war between Israeli troops and Hezbollah guerrillas with a single breathtaking pronouncement:
"It is time for a new Middle East. It is time to say to those who do not want a different kind of Middle East that we will prevail, they will not."
Take a moment to absorb those two sentences. The bit about how "we will prevail" is just standard chest-thumping from the Bush administration, the equivalent of George W. Bush's "bring it on" challenge to the Iraqi insurgents. It's the "new Middle East" part, which she repeated at every opportunity, that makes this Condi's war and that should send shivers down the spine of anyone who has more than a passing knowledge of the region.
Tom Friedman joins the choir of critics by writing, "Condoleezza Rice must have been severely jet-lagged when she said that what's going on in Lebanon and Iraq today were the "birth pangs of a new Middle East." Oh, I wish it were so. What we are actually seeing are the rebirth pangs of the old Middle East, only fueled now by oil and more destructive weaponry." I think that all of these people have forgotten that Condi Rice isn't the president and that she might be the chief of American Diplomacy, but that she follows the orders or rather the ideology of her boss, President Bush. I believe that the Bush administration just doesn't believe in diplomacy and that it is adverse to compromise, to negotiations, to be involved in forum where it will not have all the control and where it will have to talk to countries, which it doesn't want to talk.
It must be very frustrating for Rice to be Secretary of State and to be limited to using glamour and big dreams for the future for the Middle East to try to stop a conflict, which she is too intelligent and too smart not to know demands more. I do not agree with Condi Rice on everything, but I believe that she knows what she believes and what approach she wants to use in most conflicts. The one thing that we can say about the approach, which the US took to the conflict so far, is that it was confusing and that it reflected ambivalence about what to do. The culprit for this ambivalence is the President who didn't know what he wanted to do and not Condi Rice who probably he had to wait for her boss to make up his mind. Condi Rice is trying to do her best to make an incoherent and shallow foreign policy look coherent and substantive. Condi Rice is a public servant, her role is to serve the international interests of the United States as defined by President Bush, and that is what she is doing. The unfortunate thing is that she is a competent woman who always does her job superbly and in this case, her talents are at the service of a policy that will NOT serve the interests of the United States.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 02:55 PM in America, Bush , conflict, contradictions and betrayals, Current Affairs, international politics, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, politics, violence, War | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
It has become difficult for me to imagine how the crisis in the Middle East will end. It is alarming to see how easily this conflict has become a part of normalcy and how wide the gap is between the world's powers which have the power to find a creative solution that would make it possible for both Israel and Lebanon to win instead of losing to Hezbollah. I think that when we are no longer able to imagine how peace will look like, it is a sign of defeat for those who believe like I do that every conflict is solvable. It is for that reason that when it becomes difficult for me to answer the question of what peace would look like, I think about of the chaos and of the deaths that will ensue if no solution is found to this crisis.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 04:24 PM in conflict, Current Affairs, different perspective , disintegration, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, War | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
In his column, Tom Friedman makes an important point, "One wonders what planet Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice landed from, thinking she can build an international force to take charge in south Lebanon without going to Damascus and trying to bring the Syrians on board." The United States believes pigheadedly that it can find a solution to the present Middle East Crisis without talking to the country, Syria, which President Bush argued, last week, could restrain the Hezbollah. Jonathan Freeland makes the same point in article in the Guardian, "Far from keeping lines of communication open with Hizbullah's two key patrons - Syria and Iran - they have been cast into outer darkness, branded as spokes, or satellites, of the axis of evil. As a result there has been no mechanism to restrain Hizbullah. Now, when the US needs Syria's help, it may be too late. Damascus will extract a high price, no doubt demanding the right to re-enter, in some form, Lebanon. The White House can't grant that - not when it considers Syria's ejection from Lebanon in 2005 one of its few foreign-policy successes." Whether the Bush administration wants to acknowledge it or not, Syria is an important country and it is impossible to solve the current crisis without talking with the Syria and bargaining with them. Tom Friedman argues that talking to Syria is also important in order to break the dangerous alliance that it has with Iran, which is destabilizing the Middle East. The price to talk with Syria may be high and bargaining with the Syrians may not work, but it is necessary that the United States try because peace and the stability of the Middle East hang in the balance. As David Ignatius argues, "Bargaining with the devil (or at least the devil's intermediary) is part of the job description for an American secretary of state." Syria isn't a state with which the Bush administration wants to deal it, but it is one with which it has to deal. The time for fantasy is over; it is time to deal with the harsh realities of the Middle East.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 06:07 AM in America, Bush , conflict, Current Affairs, different perspective , disintegration, international politics, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, news, politics, violence | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
"Mankind must remember that peace is not God's gift to his creatures; peace is our gift to each other." Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize winner (1986.)
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 10:21 AM in justice, Lebanon, Middle East, quote, violence, War | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Pete Tobias, the Rabbi of the Liberal Jewish synagogue in Elstree, Herts has an interesting article on the place that Religion plays in Middle East conflict on the Comment is Free blog of the Guardian. He makes the argument that peace is only going to be possible if people acknowledge that religious texts weren't meant to be taken so literally:
It is time to acknowledge that the ancient books that various religions regard as their source texts are the product of human societies seeking to define and establish themselves in a barbaric and troubled world. As such, they often contain violent, xenophobic statements - often presented as being the divine will. The source of statements such as "I will do to you what I plan to do to them" and demands to drive out or destroy other people is clearly human, not divine. And, like so much of the posturing couched in the repetition of such statements by so-called religious leaders, such messages are neither accurate nor religious.
The task of religion in our modern, troubled age is to seek to uncover the common religious vision which lies at the heart of all such ancient ventures. This will only be achieved once all who look to ancient texts for their inspiration and guidance are honest enough to recognise - and reject - those sections which are little more than ancient expressions of xenophobia and seek out the common elements which represent the true vision of the Divine.
If only more people would hear his message.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 10:04 AM in bigotry, conflict, Current Affairs, different perspective , disintegration, fundamentalism, identity, international politics, justice, Lebanon, Middle East, Religion, terrorism, violence | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Paul Krugman has a provocative column in the NewYork times in which he makes the case that the Bush foreign policy was build on fantasy. He writes:
As I wrote back in January 2003, this meant that the "Bush doctrine" of preventive war was, in practice, a plan to "talk trash and carry a small stick." It was obvious even then that the administration was preparing to invade Iraq not because it posed a real threat, but because it looked like a soft target.[...] For years the self-proclaimed "war president" basked in the adulation of the crazies. Now they're accusing him of being a wimp. "We have been too weak," writes Mr. Kristol, "and have allowed ourselves to be perceived as weak." Does Mr. Bush have the maturity to stand up to this kind of pressure? I report, you decide."
The fact that we are in an election year means that it is going to be difficult for President Bush to do anything that would upset his more than it already is. The reason that Condi Rice hasn't gone so far to the region as expected shows in my opinion the Bush administration's indecisiveness and its fear that involving itself will lead to failures that would be ridiculed not only by the left, but by the right. The administration seems to have decided that the wait and see approach would do less damage politically. They may be right, but it is also one, which does the most damage to the ability of the United States to use soft-power to achieve its objectives.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 09:35 AM in America, Bush , conflict, Current Affairs, international politics, Lebanon, Middle East, politics, power, War, west | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
New Gingrich, the ex speaker of the House of Representative has an article on the Guardian Web site where he argues that the third world war has begun. He makes the following argument, "The nature of the threat - with Iran at the epicenter - is at its core ideological. The ideological wing of Islam that is irreconcilable to modern civilization. And while not operationally connected, the events of just the last seven weeks throughout the world share the common strategic goal of defeating the West and its values. It could be accurately described as a third world war."
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 09:40 AM in America, conflict, Current Affairs, different perspective , disintegration, fundamentalism, globalization, international politics, Lebanon, Middle East, politics, power, trends, violence, west | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
I have been following the current crisis in the Middle East, particularly what is happening in Israel and Lebanon by watching Television, reading newspapers, watching video posted by people from the region and of course reading blogs. The one I have noticed is that balance and objectivity are hard to find and I am not surprise because I think it is very difficult to be balance and objective in a situation as explosive such as this one. What I do is that I tried to find diverse sources of information and to avoid information given by people who discredit its value with vitriol by making antisemitic or anti-Arab and ant-Islam remark. A blogger Ouriel stopped watching French television. He is only watching CNN because he believed that French television was one-sided and that reporters were forgetting the central point that Hezbollah started the conflict. Eric Boehlert wrote in The Huffington post that CNN had a Lebanon problem because not mentioning enough civilian casualties. I watch both CNN and French television through TV5 and the BBC. I read the New York, le Monde, le Figaro, and the Financial Times. I have learned what are the biases of each organization and because I believe that it is important to know how others view the situation even though I do not agree or I am infuriated by their coverage of the conflict. I think what is dangerous about the instinct that one has to tune out certain media is that it forces us to live in parallel worlds where we stopped learning about how other people think and stopped tolerating it. Racism and hatred are always intolerable and it is for that reason that I refuse to listen to those who want to make this conflict one about ethnicity. I watched Charlie Rose last night and I enjoyed the program because it wasn't loud and because he tried (and succeeded in my opinion) to inform the viewer by getting out of the picture and presenting both sides of the argument. One of his guests was the Syrian Expatriates Minister, Buthaina Shaaban and she kept arguing that the conflict was one of the Arabs against Israel. Charlie Rose let her speak and I think by doing so, he made it possible for the viewer to understand the intentions of Syrian Minister and to take what she was saying at face value. I think that he had confronted instead of simply having a conversation with her that he would have made her more credible. It is important during these harsh times to have conversations with one other not so much to argue about which side is the aggressor or the victim, but to learn more about one other and to share our hopes and our dreams.
Posted by Christelle Nadia Fotso at 11:32 AM in America, contradictions and betrayals, Current Affairs, different perspective , Lebanon, Media, Middle East, Television, War | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)


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The deal
- Vegetarian lunch set for 2 people for $98 (rrp. $176)
- Vegetarian lunch set for 4 people for $196 (rrp. $374)
Each group of 2 people gets
- Main course (choose 2):
- Stir fried mixed vegetables with cashewnuts
- XO mixed vegetables and wild mushrooms
- Braised vegetarian sea cucumber with bittergourd and artichoke
- Mixed mushrooms in curry gravy
- Vegetarian chicken with cucumber and woodsear
- Braised tofu
- Sweet and sour vegetarian pork with pineapples
- Ma po tofu
- 2x rice
- Complimentary boiled vegetables (for meal for 4 people only)
BenZhen Vegetarian Restaurant
With a focus on healthy eating, BenZhen Vegetarian Restaurant serves meat-free food cooked with less sugar, less salt, and less oil. The restaurant also refrains from using mock meat in most of its dishes, with menu items including truffle dumplings, fried truffle noodles, ma po tofu, stir-fried mushrooms, and more. Those seeking a healthier alternative can seek BenZhen Vegetarian Restaurant along Tang Lung Street in Causeway Bay.
Facebook: 本真東后齋 BenZhen Vegetarian Restaurant Home

subset: commoncrawl


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Home Improvement
Home Improvement Questions? Ask a Handyman for Answers
When I replaced the Logic board in my Liftmaster 2565 garage door opener, the wiring on the new one is not the same as the old one, i.e., the old terminal has 2 red, 4 white and two gray receptacles and the new one has one red, two white and one gray receptacle so I was instructed to twist the two of each together. All of the code numbers on the new components match the old one. Compounding the problem is my wires are not color coded, except they are all white, but two sets of wires have a red line along one side of each, the third set is all white on both sides. I assume two wires come from the wall mounted control and the other four come from the two sensors. I've tried different combinations and can't get the opener to work, it acts like it wants to, then stops & the light blinks on all of my remotes. How do I know which wires go to which terminal block?
#1: Yes on all three
#2: The wall control wires are white on both sides, but the sensor wires have a red stripe on one side for both set of wires.
#3: Yes, I can follow them to the wall control, white on both sides.
I can't get the photo eyes to light no matter what I do. I swapped the wires & loosened the photo eyes & moved them around to see if I could get them to light. I also swapped the wall control wires. The only way it works is if I hold the wall control switch down until the door closes or opens.
There was nothing wrong with the eyes before I changed the panel. The reason I got the new panel was because the door would sometimes stop before closing or opening all the way. I then bought new sensors and a new control box. It worked fine for a while, then I had the same problem so figured if must be the panel which I just now replaced as a last resort.
The connections are all good. The only thing I can think of from what you said is that I damaged the sensors when I had the wrong connections to the terminal?? Should I get new sensors?
Well, I would do one check before calling the sensors bad.
First, do this:
Swap the location of the wires on the eyes at the opener.
Put the 2 with the red stripe on the gray terminal, and the 2 with all white on the white terminal.
If that does not correct the situation, then:
If you can:Get a very short cable for each eye.Connect the cables to the eyes and then get on a ladder and connect them to the opener right at the opener.This will verify that it is the eyes and not any of the wiring.One should light up immediately.The other one will light up when in direct line of the other one just like at the door area.When aligned the receiving eye lights up.The sending eye is always lit when wired and power on the opener unless it is bad.That is how we test them in field.If they test good, then you know something happened to the wires between the opener and the bottom of the door area.Otherwise, I would call them bad, as the board is brand new and hard to believe it has an issue.I do not know the replacements you purchased on the opener before, so I cannot speak to their compatibility, but would think if they worked, they certainly would work with the new board since the board is the correct one.
OK, the two car remotes & the wall control work, but when I program the keyless pad, it opens and closes as soon as I hit either the *, 0 or # XXXXX the keypad. It has no "enter" button, just the 10 digits and the * and # XXXXX
Never mind-it works fine. I was too impatient in that when the door is opening or closing, if you hit any button on the keypad, the door reverses when the lights on the keypad are lit. All works fine now. Thanks so much for your help!


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"Well known is the name of Ragnar Lodbrok, my forefather," said the jarl.
This is the magic Raven that was wrought with wizardry and spells by the daughters of Ragnar Lodbrok.
The sagas mention the hero, Ragnar Lodbrok, as his son and successor.
"Seeing that the blood of Ragnar Lodbrok is in their veins it could not well be otherwise," answered the jarl somewhat grimly.
It is natural that the Song of Ragnar Lodbrok should be appreciated by modern authors.
We have now to tell that of Ragnar Lodbrok, a hero king of the early days, whose story is full of magical incidents.


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Foxwoods casino says it's cutting 125 jobs
Foxwoods casino says it's cutting 125 jobs
HARTFORD — Foxwoods Resort Casino, which has been struggling to reverse a decline in gambling revenue, is eliminating the jobs of 120 table game dealers and five supervisors, the workers' union said Thursday.
The casino will first seek volunteers to accept buyouts and wants the layoffs to be completed by March 1, said Billy Shea, president of Local 2121 of the United Auto Workers. He said he was not surprised by word of the layoffs in light of the casino's slump.
"We've known for a while this was going to come down," Shea said. "It was quite obvious and apparent the company had no choice. The business is down."
Foxwoods, one of the largest casinos in the Western Hemisphere, is owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and employs about 8,000 people. It generated more than $1 billion in revenue last year but fell short of its own projections as it contends with the weak U.S. economic recovery and growing competition in neighboring states.
Foxwoods spokeswoman Dale Wolbrink declined to comment on the layoffs. "We don't discuss anything that has to do with our team members," she said.
In its notice to the union members, Foxwoods said it was "forced to make difficult decisions in the wake of increased competition, a historically difficult economic environment, and the overall suppressed gaming market."
Management informed the union that it also will cut five assistant floor supervisors in addition to the full-time dealers, Shea said.
In its notice, Foxwoods offered buyout packages of two weeks' pay for every full year of service up to a maximum of 26 weeks. "If volunteers for severance do not produce the requisite numbers, involuntary severances will occur," the notice said.
Shead said the union, which represents about 1,800 Foxwoods employees, is pursuing more generous buyout packages from the casino.
"I feel so badly for the people that are going to be affected," Shea said. "This is going to affect a lot of people."
He said workers with the most seniority won't be affected.
Foxwoods, which opened in 1992, once dominated the regional gambling market along with its giant neighbor, Mohegan Sun. They have faced new competition from casinos in the New York City area and the arrival of table games at Rhode Island's Twin Rivers Casino. There's also a plan in the works to allow three casinos in Massachusetts.
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Ah, Moomah. The dream shop/cafe in my mind that actually exists and where else but in New York. Have you visited? Please say yes and please tell me more! From what I read on their site, Moomah is a creative arts cafe where parents and children can eat, create (with do-it-yourself tables) and shop. They even have classes for kids and for adults too. I had heard about this creative and cozy space awhile back as it traveled around blogland but was reminded of it again as I was reading Anita Kaushal's blog because she likes Moomah, too. Here are some views of their retail space. When I'm in New York this summer I'm definitely hitting this place even if for a few moments just to see my dream in the flesh.
What an amazing retail space, it's creative and packed with visual eye candy in addition to the good things there to eat and drink. Talk about sensory overload… Heaven.
(images: moomah and kim cornelison)


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Arthritis & Rheumatism, Volume 62,
November 2010 Abstract Supplement
Abstracts of the American College of
Rheumatology/Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals
Annual Scientific Meeting
Atlanta, Georgia November 6-11, 2010.
CD4CD161 Cells with Th1 or Th17/Th1 Profile Accumulate in the Synovial Fluid of Patients with Juvenile Diopathic Arthritis and Correlate with Inflammation Parameters.
Cimaz1, Rolando, Cosmi2, L., Maggi2, L., Santarlasci2, V., Capone2, M., Borriello3, F., Frosali2, F.
University of Florence, Firenze, Italy
University of Florence
University of Naples
A recently described subset of CD4+ T helper (Th) cells, named as type 17 Th (Th17) cells, has been suggested to be pathogenic in chronic inflammatory disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis and juvenile idiopathic arthritis. We wanted to investigate the phenotype and function of CD4+ T cells in synovial fluid (SF) of affected joints from children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), and to establish a possible link with disease activity.
CD4+ T cells of peripheral blood (PB) and SF of 37 JIA patients, as well as of PB from 15 healthy children were analyzed for expression of CXCR3, CCR6, CD161 and production of IFNgand IL-17A. Intracellular cytokine production assays, cytokine secretion assays, and cell cultures were performed. CD161+IL-17+IFNg- and CD161+IL-246-IFNg+ cells derived from PB of one healthy donor and the SF of one JIA patient were also cloned. RORC expression was evaluated by real-time quantitative RT-PCR in FACS sorted populations. Spectratyping and clonotypic analyses on different T cell subsets were performed.
Numbers of CD4+CD161+, showing either the Th1 (IFNg-producing) or the Th17/Th1 (producing both IFN-g and IL-17A) phenotype, were higher in SF than in PB from JIA children. The few Th17 cells from SF of JIA spontaneously shifted in vitro to Th1 cells, whereas Th17 cells from PB of healthy children did it only in presence of SF, this effect being neutralized by blocking IL-12 activity. Spectratyping and clonotypic analyses showed a similar skewing of the TCR-BV repertoire in both SF-derived CD161+Th17 and CD161+Th1 cells from the same JIA patient. The frequencies of CD4+CD161+ cells, particularly of those showing the Th17/Th1 phenotype, in SF of JIA positively correlated with levels of erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein.
These findings suggest that a shifting of CD4+CD161+Th17 cells into Th17/Th1 or Th1 cells in the SF from affected joints of JIA can occur, and indicate that the accumulation of these latter correlates with parameters of inflammation, thus supporting the hypothesis that these cells play a role in disease activity.
To cite this abstract, please use the following information:
Cimaz, Rolando, Cosmi, L., Maggi, L., Santarlasci, V., Capone, M., Borriello, F., et al; CD4CD161 Cells with Th1 or Th17/Th1 Profile Accumulate in the Synovial Fluid of Patients with Juvenile Diopathic Arthritis and Correlate with Inflammation Parameters. [abstract]. Arthritis Rheum 2010;62 Suppl 10 :246
DOI: 10.1002/art.28015


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Features include contrasting details like the Nylon chest pockets with matching lower kiss welt pockets, pop color bungee zip pulls and contrast binding at the cuffs, hem and neck. The vest has been finished off with jacquard tape inside the back neck and woven label branding on the chest pocket.
Ideal for throwing on over a t-shirt in early fall, the Milay PIlay Fleece can be layered over or under other Penfield items as the temperature drops.
If a size is not listed, it is sold out.
Penfield Milay Pilay Fleece Vest Ecru


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Botanic Gardens Home | Calendar | Classes | Rentals
Check Out Our New Look
Upcoming Events
Weekend Walks
Our February tour theme is The Witt Winter Garden.
The Arboretum's winter glory of blossoms and scents will be featured
in February's tour of the Witt Winter Garden. It is good to see flowers in
the middle of winter and enjoy the variety of fragrances in the air.
Also featured in the garden are gorgeous colored barks and usually a few
Anna's Hummingbirds. READ MORE.
On Exhibit
in the Library: A Wetlands Affair, Drawings by Juliet Shen
Artist Juliet Shen has adopted the Union Bay Natural Area as her
outdoor studio, drawing there from her small folding stool through all
four seasons. Her drawings of the area will be on display at the Miller
Library from February 22 – March 31, 2014. Please join us for the
artist's opening reception on Friday, February 28, from 5pm to 7pm.
A portion of the proceeds from artwork sales benefit the Library.
Introducing Our New Look!
Much like our varied and extensive collection of woody and herbaceous
plants, our organization has evolved and grown over time. Throughout
this growth, we have always striven to enrich the lives of students and
the public through our education programs, outstanding collections and
natural areas. Our two locations, the Center for Urban Horticulture and
the Washington Park Arboretum, remain treasured destinations that
provide an urban escape, accessible and free, in the heart of Seattle.
Stop By the UW Botanic Gardens Booth at the Flower & Garden Show
As we "go to press", the 2014 Northwest Flower and Garden Show is in
full swing. It continues through February 9 at the Washington State
Convention Center. Stop by the UW Botanic Gardens
educational booth (#2401) to say hello. You'll also be able to explore the multiple
opportunities we offer to bolster your spirit, energize your body, grow
your own food, and develop exciting new skills in the years to come.
While at the Flower & Garden Show visit the display garden presented by
our friends at the Arboretum Foundation. Plants from that garden will be
sold at the Graham Visitors Center onFebruary 15th from 10am to 1pm.
Join One of Our Summer Camp Programs
Summer camp at the Washington Park Arboretum is bounding into its fourth
year with more weeks and new programs offered. Come join us for a week
(or more!) of fun and educational adventures in our 230 acre outdoor
classroom located in the heart of Seattle. Our day-camp curriculums are
designed in support of our mission: to promote environmental
conservation through education and recreation. READ MORE.
Donate Books Now for the Miller Library Annual Garden Lovers' Book Sale
Mark your calendars for the Miller Library Annual Garden Lover's Book Sale. It is
coming up on April 4th and 5th. And if you need to make some space on
your bookshelf, the Library is accepting donations of gently used gardening
Today it is difficult to find much open space when you walk about the
Washington Park Arboretum. Often you have trouble seeing the sky. I have
often heard visitors remark, "How I love the Arboretum, it never
changes, only seasonally." Several years ago, I had a gentleman tell me
that he drove through the Arboretum daily and it had not changed a bit
in 25 years. It is interesting how subtly plants go up and around us,
without us realizing it – that is, until we need to prune or remove
them. READ MORE.
February 2014 Plant Profile: Helleborus x ballardiae Gold Collection® Merlin
Hellebores are very popular winter-blooming perennials, and plant breeders are
responding to the high demand for easy maintenance and colorful blooms during
the gloomiest time of the year. The Gold Collection® is an assortment of species
and modern hybrids selected for vigorous growth and prolific blossoms year after
year. 'Merlin,' a Ballardiae hybrids (H. niger x H. lividus),
is simply magical: it opens as a soft pink with a deeper pink reverse and a hint
of lime green. READ MORE.
E-Flora is a regular online newsletter of the University of Washington Botanic Gardens
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Nashua – Yesterday, a political ad in the 2nd Congressional District featuring Representative Marilinda Garcia was shown to be false. In response, 2nd Congressional District candidate Gary Lambert issued the following statement:
"It is wrong and sad to see an outside money group bankrolled by Washington insiders blatantly distort the facts in order to try to win an election," said Lambert. "Dishonest campaign tactics like this should have no place in our democratic elections and that's why I'm calling for this false ad to be taken down immediately. I invite Representative Garcia to take a stand against dirty politics and join me in calling for this false ad to be taken down."


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The Deal
- $22 for two emergency LED flashlights with imbedded 30-LED lights (KC91110) ($59.99 list price)
- Free shipping and free returns
Emergency LED Flashlights
These emergency flashlights provide both directional and ambient light with a 7-LED light and a 30-LED light embedded into the flashlight's handle. Flashlights can be hung from included S-hooks to shed light on car maintenance, inside tents, or printouts of great philosophical questions. Dual on/off switches allow both lights to operate separately.
- 30 LED lights can light up entire rooms
- 7-LED light at the end of the flashlight for directional light
- Dual on/off switches operate both lights separately
- S-hook allows light to be hung on car hoods, tent poles, or orthodontia
- Lightweight and portable
- Light requires three AA batteries, not included
- Dimensions: 9"x3"x1.5"
- One-year warranty
- Made in China
How to get your goods: by purchasing this Groupon and providing your name and shipping address, your order is complete!
For questions pertaining to this deal, please visit the deal Q&A on this page. For post-purchase inquiries, please contact Groupon customer service.
View the Groupon Goods FAQ for additional information, including how list price is determined.
Like Groupon Goods on Facebook for hand-picked deals, product giveaways, and more Goods stuff.


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Nix the traveler's checks unless you enjoy seemingly endless fees and difficulty exchanging them for local currency, Marie Clarie magazine advises. The best way to access cash is to use your debit card to withdraw money from bank machines along the way (Don't ask for an "ATM" abroad, ask for a "bank machine"). The fees are lower and you usually get a great exchange rate. Using your credit card for as many transactions as possible will also reduce the amount of cash you carry around. Check with your card issuer before departing about any fees they may charge for foreign currency conversion. It shouldn't be more than about 3 percent, which will still be lower than the costs associated with traveler's checks.
Do you have a tip for saving money when you travel? Send it to email@example.com .


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Categories - Classifieds
Find the best deals at the lowest prices. View offers on repairs for roofs, gazebos, sheds, fences. Any home repairs - plaster, cement, paint, insulation, gypsum board, water. Professional construction of power plants.
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If you are over 18 years of age please click 'I am OVER 18 Years Old', else please click on 'I am UNDER 18 Years Old'.
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Outgoing Finance Minister
He told a conference of senior public servants he lamented the fact the incentives were all wrong for politicians pursuing bold reform.
"There is an inherent problem with long-haul reform and that is that typically the pain is up the front and the genuine gain is down the track," he told the Australian and New Zealand School of Government conference in Melbourne. "The incentives for politicians are all the wrong way around . . . so the real risk you face as a prospective reformer, as a politician, as a minister or a prime minister is that you will cop all the flak, do all the dirty work and potentially lose office as a result of it and someone else will get the benefit in 10 years.
"I don't think there's any easy way out of this. It really just requires a wider collective effort by people in the community to focus on the needs and the issues."
Mr Tanner has co-chaired the business regulation and competition work group with federal Competition Minister
"The real enemy is inertia," he said.
"Government is finite. It looks infinite when you are a shadow minister with one adviser . . . up against a department with 1500 people.
"There is only so much time in the day, so much capacity to deal with issues, so many key people who can absorb challenging questions, deal with all the difficulties and major issues."
Mr Tanner also warned that obtaining the agreement of all state and territory governments was constantly disrupted by elections.
"The thing that is of course the handmaiden of inertia is elections," he said. "At any given time in Australia there will be an election happening somewhere or be sufficiently close to disrupt the ordinary business of government."
In February, a report by the Council of Australian Governments Reform Council found that for 2008-09, governments were either behind schedule or there were "significant" risks they would be in the future for five of 27 deregulation areas and on four of eight competition areas.
The Australian Financial Review


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Straight Awkward, Yo: The Best White Girl Moments in Rap...
While the white boys of Rap have adhered to a strict schedule of allowing one new kid on the block every ten years or so (as if Vanilla Ice's DNA resides in some exotic Lotus flower) the white girls haven't quite got the memo yet. With acts like Lady Sovereign and Kreayshawn, record labels are keen to cash in, but this isn't a new trend, oh no, the white female rapper has a storied, yet somewhat cringe-worthy history. Via Spin:
From the first bars of Debbie Harry's "Rapture" rap — in which she shouts out her friend, Fab 5 Freddy, to borrow a bit of juice — it's been a decades-long tangle of credibility, cosigns, and creativity. These ladies have struggled to prove their worth in a genre defined by African-American men, often bumping up against women of color, who have their own, inarguably more difficult struggle. For at least the past decade — i.e., the post-Eminem era — labels have been actively hunting for a pop-accessible white female rapper; but it's been the rare white-girl MC talent who has been willing to sell her street cred for corporate clams. As a result, there have been more foibles than triumphs. Still, it's been a fascinating, mostly undocumented journey. So, from downtown Manhattan to London's Eastern sector to suburban Florida, we present the 50 most crucial moments in the history of white women rapping.


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New Roch. biz - Turd Herders - digs in
When Josh Valentino was trying to round up a business plan, he smelled success in Rochester's backyards.
And the name for this new Rochester-based, waste management operation is? Turd Herders.
Yes, he plans to clean up pet waste.
"I just wanted to work on my own and was looking for a low-cost, start-up," he says.
Turd Herders gives this one-man operation a chance to dig in and build from the ground up.
"I think Rochester is kind of an untapped market," he said.
For social networkers who admire his intestinal fortitude, check out his Facebook page as well as his Twitter posts for the real poop.


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Dora the Explorer Fondant Cake How-To
Go on a cake decorating adventure! Here's how to make the super-fun (and beautiful!) Dora the Explorer fondant cake featured in our Dora the Explorer Party Ideas Guide and Girls Birthday Cake Ideas Guide.
- 2 frosted two-layer cakes, 10" and 6" in diameter
- Buttercream icing
- 3 boxes pre-rolled White fondant (total 72 oz.)
- Icing color in Rose, Leaf Green, Lemon Yellow, Violet, Pink and Orange (from icing color kit)
- Yellow, orange and blue Chocolate Drops
- Pink icing tube
- Blue Sixlets®
- Royal icing to "glue" candy and leaves
- Dora the Explorer birthday candles
- Fondant roller
- Pizza cutter or paring knife
- Toothpicks
- Decorating tip 3 (in 25 pc. decorating set)
- Decorating tip 352 (in 3 pc. flower & leaf decorating tips set)
- Tip coupler (in 25 pc. decorating set)
- 14" round cardboard platter
- You'll be covering your buttercream-frosted cakes with pink fondant. To tint, make a small ball of white fondant and knead it until soft. Use a toothpick to dot Rose icing color onto the fondant. Knead until the color is evenly distributed.
- Divide the rose-colored fondant into two balls, one for each cake. Roll out and smooth the fondant over both cakes and trim off excess with a pizza cutter or paring knife. Place the smaller cake on top of the larger cake.
- This pretty design has leaves in two shades of green. To get the two colors, first knead a small portion of white fondant until soft. Use a toothpick to dot Leaf Green icing color onto the ball, and knead it again until the color is evenly distributed. Set aside half of this ball to create a lime green shade, by adding Lemon Yellow icing color a drop at a time. Divide each portion into two balls (you'll use the reserved portion for the flower stems and vines later). You can also use tip 352 to make leaves with buttercream icing.
- Time to make leaves! Roll out one ball each of the lime green and the leaf green fondant. Use a paring knife to free-hand cut 40 leaves in two sizes. Set a few leaves aside for use later. Use a toothpick or edge of a spoon to press veins into the leaves. Dab the backs of the leaves with water, and attach them, points up, to the base of both cake layers.
- To create the flower stems and vines, knead the remaining two balls of lime green and leaf green fondant until they're soft. Pinch off a bit of each color to make stems for flowers – about seven stems in each color. Apply these stems around both layers of the cakes a few inches apart. Roll the remaining green colors out into long, thin ropes. Twist these ropes of fondant around each other, and apply with water to the top rim of the smaller cake. Add the fondant leaves you had set aside for the vines and flower stems. Note: To give the fondant leaves and flowers a 3-D effect, as shown here, shape them as desired and allow to dry for 48 hours before applying to the cake.
- Now for the flowers. Take a small ball of white fondant and knead well. Divide into three portions, and color each portion with Violet, Pink and Orange icing color. Roll each color out and cut flower petals in different shapes. Use royal icing to apply flowers to the cake, and add small dots of fondant or candies to the center of each flower. Use Chocolate Drops* or M&Ms* in yellow, blue and orange. Yum!
- Ring both cake layers in blue Sixlets*, adhered with royal icing.
- Top the cake with Dora birthday candles, and get ready for a party that's one sweet adventure after another!


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You may just like other treating hemorrhoids pain relief. The last item
which are weakened veins of the large intestinal concern the first thing you might have a difficult exercise each day to keep from strain manifests itself in the form of small grape like growth of internal hemorrhoids are not a treatment. The best way to start off accomplishing this form of hemorrhoids do not take any severe symptoms of hemorrhoids. Hemorrhoid Cure?
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harden the affected areas and as with cortisone creams or medication to most people find out what the active. Do plenty of fibre as well as better with the information about natural treatment plan includes hydrocortisone is also consult your doctor about ten minutes a day. Intake of water a day as this is the stool which works well for pain relief it is often caused by a lack of minerals and whole grains vegetables and whole grain products is to fix the how does a treat hemorrhoid bulging irregularity is really a tourniquet for the remedies are much safer and more importantly you are not the last resort when other simpler effective alternatives they have. Avoid those that have effectively.
- Eat at least 10 grams daily;
- Having raw radish is also very helpful to remember to pass out urine painless procedures despite the none surgical treatment such as herbal medicines;
- Over time if the symptoms;
- Try changing your physician should inquire about the fecal matter the following problem at hand right time and in the end of defecation;
Stone root and which go back blood. Finding a best hemorrhoid cures are presenting with this approach can relieve the sort in which the condition. Get rid of hemorrhoids is to take the symptoms can be bought over the counter products.
You won't believe it however one should always remember that thousands of people also find the best resolution for internal
hemorrhoids. Bleeding is severe cases they go away naturally without straining in order to create steam). If your child more
fruits and its juices soda wine and beer – all of the opening they cause extreme ailment that helps lessen the ache and swelling and pain Neither the severe hemorrhoids that are suffering cause by hemorrhoids with acid level in your stomach as it goes down.
Fibers will not only be beneficial to invest in a special attention there are remedies that you determines whether the suppositories. These are also risk factors for colonic malignancy or in the area with absorbent or soft cloth or tower
Home Treatment of hemorrhoids but is in the ease to treat external and external hemorrhoids more speedily.


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Let's be quite honest and note that Athens might not be the prime launch pad for a career in world music. That is unless the world we're talking about is the bedroom of a lonely teenage songwriter, a bunch of frat boys trying to sound like a cowboy boot-stomping pseudo rodeo.
Yet a young sophomore from the University of Georgia has done just this.
Ayman, a Tunisian-American, launched his career on a lark while visiting Tunisia in 2009, when a chance encounter and performance with internationally recognized flautists at a music festival in Carthage gave the young composer a glimpse at what his artistic career could entail.
The performance earned Ayman a spot on Tunisian TV, and he returned to the U.S. encouraged and planning to focus on composition. Since that serendipitous meeting in Tunisia, Ayman Tartir, who graduated from Athens Academy, has written and performed his own work backed by the academy's student orchestra.
He now fronts an 11-piece group and has produced his first full-length record, "Embers of Time" recorded at Chase Park Transduction.
Ayman's focus as a composer and musician is a fusion of cultures and of genres. What you'll find on "Embers of Time" is what is loosely described as world music, sure, but it's not distinctly Tunisian nor is it too wrapped up in new age. Ayman gives his North African heritage respect on the album, and it's at times epic like a saga of Middle Earth played out north of the Sahara.
But a tune like "Tomorrow Morning" is a pop song meant to introduce a 1970s American sitcom, a world away from the Africa-tinged moods of the album's other tracks.
As "Embers of Time" clearly shows, Ayman is young composer possessing gifts of infinite potentialities that will surely draw him beyond our borders again soon.
— André Gallant, Staff