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Politics : Israel to U.S. : Now Deal with Syria and Iran -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sea_urchin who wrote (9735)	1/6/2006 7:40:09 AM
From: sea_urchin	Respond to of 22250

> it's verboten to express politically incorrect opinions -- and as for the truth, well that's completely taboo. cnn.com >>Did Jesus exist? Court to decide "The Church constructed Christ upon the personality of John of Gamala," Cascioli claimed, referring to the 1st century Jew who fought against the Roman army. A court in Viterbo will hear from Righi, who has yet to be indicted, at a January 27 preliminary hearing meant to determine whether the case has enough merit to go forward. "In my book, 'The Fable of Christ,' I present proof Jesus did not exist as a historic figure. He must now refute this by showing proof of Christ's existence," Cascioli said.<< Should be fun.

To: sea_urchin who wrote (9735)	1/7/2006 4:27:47 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22250

Re: If I expressed my opinions in the world at large there would be many wanting to hang me from the nearest tree. And understandably so! In Europe, your opinion might appeal to our blue-collar rednecks who are themselves struggling to make a living and hold to their jobs... It's small wonder they get tired of watching "third world tearjerkers" --the Tsunami hoopla, the earthquake in Pakistan, famine in Ethiopia, ebola in Congo, you name it. Meanwhile the Belgian government had to hatch a "heating bill rebate" --dubbed "le chèque mazout" in French-- so that thousands of Belgian households can keep warm this winter... and that's on top of kitchen soups handed out by Les Restos du Coeur. Yet, as you're well aware of it, Belgium, like all other European countries, is not run by a Soviet (ie "council") of rednecks but by a coterie of old, educated, worldly families who've understood that, if Europe is to play a leading role in world affairs, she'd better care about the plight of Africa, the restiveness of the Arab world, the frustration of Russia and Eastern Europe, the growing assertiveness of East Asia, and the eery insanity of the US... Somehow, Europe feels compelled to "splurge" aid on Africa because, unlike China, she lacks the double-digit growth rate to trade with Africa on a scale similar to that of China. The Chinese are increasingly involved in Africa because they genuinely, economically, indeed rationally, need it! Contrariwise, Europe, with near-zero GDP growth, sluggish demographics and a dwindling industrial base, can make do without Africa's riches. Hence Europe's challenge: how to keep a foothold in Africa when economic necessity no longer calls for it? And that's where the NGO people enter the picture, that's where you need the merry French doctors and the whole nexus of the "aid industry"... That's the price --a paltry one-- Europe has to pay if she doesn't want to find herself utterly displaced by China in the coming years, if she doesn't want to wind up as a lily-white, xenophobic, inward-minded, old-age asylum, in short, if Europe doesn't want to look like the Israeli garrison-state writ large! A Continent ruled and inhabited by self-righteous freaks who feel besieged and threatened by hordes of subhuman barbarians.... Re: ...and the black politicians are jetting around the world to conferences where they attempt to embarrass the developed countries into giving them more aid -- for more jetting around the world. African Renaissance is underway. As far as I'm concerned, I would rather have African politicians jetting around the world from one WTO venue to the next than European and US warmongers jetting the world over, huckstering their "global war on terror" scam or a plan for another war against Iran.... Gus

To: sea_urchin who wrote (9735)	1/7/2006 6:14:06 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22250

Re: But it's easy to talk especially here at SI where few read what I say. C'mon, Searle! Don't be so self-deprecating... People in the most unsuspected places are reading --and heeding-- you. Granted, not in Africa yet, but, as you must be aware, Africa's got the lowest internet connection in the world.... See how your anti-aid rants prompted North Korea to scrap its UN food relief program. Don't let up and don't give up! And, who knows, perhaps Congo will follow suit???? World Food Program ends North Korea aid By James Brooke The New York Times FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2006 TOKYO The World Food Program, which was helping to feed one third of North Korea's 22 million people as recently as August, has ended all feeding programs at the request of the North Korea's government. "Operations are completely halted," Richard Ragan, an American who represents the United Nations agency in Pyongyang, said in a telephone interview Friday. "We were feeding 600,000 people in December. As of Jan. 1, we are feeding nobody." In North Korea, the agency has also closed its five offices outside Pyongyang, closed its 19 fortified food factories, and cut its foreign personnel nearly in half, to about 25, Ragan said from Beijing. Over the last decade, the agency spent an estimated $1.7 billion to feed North Koreans. A major source of food for the nation's poorest populations, the agency is believed to have helped to cut malnutrition rates. North Korean officials have justified the shutdown, saying that after a decade of Western aid they want Western groups to shift to development work. With the severe famine of the mid-1990s a fading memory, they say that a bumper harvest last autumn is putting the country on the road to food self-sufficiency. "Agriculture should be put forward as the main front of the economic construction this year, too, and all the forces be mobilized and concentrated on farming once again," the nation's annual New Year's editorial, a major policy document, said Sunday. Through a nationwide mobilization, the North managed to increase its estimated grain production to 3.64 million tons, the highest level in a decade, according to an estimate released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the end of November. In a symbolic gesture, the North shipped one ton of rice to the South last week, the first such food shipment since 1984. But many foreign analysts believe that the rulers of the secretive nation are pursuing a political strategy to cut the number of Westerners roaming the countryside inspecting food distribution networks. While World Food Program food aid was being phased out, food aid from China and South Korea was increasing. Last year, China and South Korea sent about 500,000 tons of grains each to North Korea. "One of their key concerns was about how we monitored our program, the number of foreigners traveling around the country," Ragan said. "The Chinese don't monitor at all as far as I am aware. The South Koreans last came in 10 times. This year they have an agreement to come in 20 times. The WFP program monitoring system was 300 to 500 visits per month, covering 35,000 kilometers of terrain per month." In addition to forcing the withdrawal of World Food Program personnel from the countryside, the North has ordered the 12 European aid groups working in the country to leave by this spring. Three left in recent days, following an expulsion order made last fall, after the European Union submitted a UN resolution criticizing the North's rights record. iht.com