Outwitted?

Korean man marries his
huggable pillow in special
wedding ceremony.

Now there is an international “to-do” about the slap in the face Biden experienced in Israel. Headlines are proclaiming that Netanyahu outwitted President Obama again, that the announcement of 1600 new housing units in East Jerusalem was an insult to the U.S. and, indeed, to the international community. It is also being said that “we” will no longer overlook the settlement issue, the Palestinians are close to unilaterally declaring an independent state, Biden has declared solid U.S. support for a Palestinian state, the U.S. is said to be outraged over this development, and so on. Would that it were all so, talk is cheap, it will be interesting to see if anything whatsoever changes with respect to Israeli intransigence. I believe it is true that international patience with Israel is running out at last, but unless the U.S. takes some action nothing will happen. So come on, Obama, let’s see some sanctions on Israel.

Still another case where most probably nothing will ever be done has to do with war crimes. It was interesting tonight when Rachel Maddow, interviewing Nancy Pelosi, asked her if she was upset about any of the actions of the previous administration. Pelosi, much to her credit, suggested that she was upset about the lies that were told to bring about the “war” in Iraq, and also about the torture. But she did not indicate that she (or anyone else) was about to take action to bring about accountability. She, like I guess most everyone else in Congress, seems to just want to shrug it off as something “regrettable.” I suppose all crimes are regrettable, but surely war crimes are far more regrettable than others, regrettable enough to warrant more than a shrug of the shoulders.

I wonder what price we may have to pay for health care if it passes now, which most seem to think it should? If it passes without a public option or some functional equivalent we may pay far more dearly that we anticipate. It seems to be true there are some very good things in the bill, coverage for millions of more Americans, an end to some of the worst abuses, like stopping your health care just when you finally really need it the most, doing away with pre-existing conditions, being able to take it with you, and so on. But with no public option what control will there be over the cost? With millions more having to have insurance, what will keep the insurance companies from just raising premiums whenever they wish? Passing a bill because it is the best we can get at the moment, and we probably won’t have another chance for(ever), and banking on being able to fix it, is quite a gamble it seems to me. It seems a gamble that we are now being forced to take because no one seems to care about anything but contributions to their campaigns and profits for the corporations. It’s America, 2010.

A nice try by Republicans and the MSM to keep Massa the gift that keeps on giving. All the attention on him has certainly kept us lately from having to think about anything else. But now that he has proven to be some kind of loony-tune I guess we’ll soon hear the end of it. Now that it has gone to the ethics committee it will probably just fade away, and rightly so, who cares whether Massa is homosexual or not? Washington, D.C. is no doubt full of them, just like the Vatican and the Church. I must say, however, I am surprised at just how many gays there seem to be, and how many pedophiles (no, I don’t believe there is a relationship between being gay and being a pedophile, I rather suspect there may well be an inverse correlation there).

I am always amazed at some of the contradictions we find in our culture. Take guns (again), for example. One of the common reasons for buying a gun (especially a handgun) is for personal or home protection. But at the same time you are told by the manufacturer and others that guns should be kept locked up, have trigger or other locks, be kept unloaded, and away from children. So what do you tell the burglar or intruder when they break in? Please wait until I unlock my gun safe, unlock my gun and load it? Does this make sense? Hey, its America, lots of things don’t make sense.

LKBIQ:
One pound of learning requires ten pounds of common sense to apply it.
Persian Proverb

TILT:
Female rabbits do not ovulate until after breeding.