Can someone tell me? As if Mugabe's manipulation of the vote wasn't enough, now we have Silvio Berlusconi at the helm in Italy again. I am quite sure some imperialist chickenhawks in America are relieved. First they get Germany from Merkel, then France from Sarkozy and now Italy back from Berlusconi. Goes to show that the corrupted surround themselves with other corrupt, pathetic people.
Silvio is seriously the worst European postwar politician ever. Italy's second fascist leader. His ties to far right groups both legal and illegal go way back. Accusations of Mafia connections are rampant. He's had more corruption and bribery cases than Britney Spears had husbands. And the worst is: his terrible sense of humor. Apparently this guy thinks it's funny to compare a German critic to a concentration camp guard. I can't really see what's the laugh. Is this Italian humor or universal bad taste?
Berlusconi escaped the biggest corruption scandal of Italy in the 90's in which politicians of all parties were purged by Italy's courts by just being more slippery than the rest of them. Since then he's had more than his share of corruption and fraud investigations. Yet he maintains his innocence. Only a fool would believe that. If you come home with a spat of mud on your shirt and insist you didn't play in the mud, that's believeable. If you come home day after day with mud all over you up to your hair, and insist you don't play in mud, you're unbeliefworthy. As a result of this, his governments have always been hostile to the justice system. Such as drafting up typical laws that enable immunity from prosecution for premiers and cabinet members during their time in office and after that. Laws like these are usually passed by rulers who have comitted crimes, have no respect for democracy, or know their cronies will remain in charge longer through these laws.
Although his hostility could also be a result of Mafia ties. The city of Napels has a notorious gangster problem which is hard to fight. Both for the police who are usually in a real warzone once the mobsters come crawling out of the woodworks. As well as for the judges who have to endure Berlusconi's ire and ridicule.
Other examples why Berlusconi is a waste of oxygen, nutrition and h2o include his outrageous claims. Like "[ideological opponents] eat babies!". He himself said communists, Hitler used to say Jews, and the Romans called them barbarians. Still not convinced this guy is a fascist? He certainly shares the fascists disrespect for democracy like saying that anyone who votes left is stupid. If Berlusconi's right is so diabolically smart, I prefer living in my ignorance. Still not sure he has fascist sympathies? Should I mention the xenophobes of his north Italian political allies? How about the "Mussolini didn't imprison dissidents. He just gave them a long vacation." remark? Is this another Italian joke, or just an endorsement of fascism?
Also don't forget his sexist, chauvinistic remarks on women either. Like every lustful male I don't shun sexist jokes. But there's a time and place for everything, and Silvio broke the unwritten rules of modern chauvinism many times over.
The good news is, this isn't much of a political victory. Italy's political system has been at an all-time low for quite some time and the people who still go out to vote either have no idea what to vote, or they have certain interests they want to guard through their vote. Just getting the majority of the votes doesn't mean anything in Italy anymore. The Greek word 'idiot' used to mean someone was apathetic towards politics. In modern Italy, the 'idiots' are the people who vote thinking it will make any difference, while the politically inclined know that the system is beyond redemption anyway and the most level-headed, trustworthy and intelligent candidate is mr. Nobody.
Add to that the ever present garbage heap of Napels that's even obstructing Mafia activity, the ailing economy and the inherent fragility of Italian governments and this new Berlusconi government will either be short lived, or unpopular from day one up to the changing of the guard.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
It never fails to anger me
If there's something I hate, it's cowards who hide behind their ethnicity and religion and culture to pass themselves off as the perpetual victim. Because white men came up with the grandiose scheme of slavery to bring more inequalty and tyranny to this world, a white person can no longer criticise a black person without being called condescending, colonialistic, imperialistic, slave driving, etc. Robert Mugabe's power is build on this tactic. Whenever he needs to distract the sheeple from the apalling poverty in Zimbabwe, he pulls out the boogyman of arrogant western imperialists sabotaging proud and free Africa. I doubt this is what Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela or Jesse Jackson meant when they changed the world for the better.
But this time, regretably, the group using such cheap below-the-waist shots are the pro-Israel lobby. Criticizing Israel equals you wanting to see it utterly destroyed. How un-nuanced can it get? This time they took a really inlikely victim: a Dutch ex-minister named Dries van Agt. Van Agt is a conservative christian politician. A former member a conservative thinktankt that fell from grace when its leader alligned itself with a racist dumb blonde party leader (van Agt BTW left exactly for this reason). He peppered his speech with ancient words. And in his wilder years he sought out open confrontation with a social-democratic premier by means of denigrating comparisons.
But in 2005, he had a revelation on a fact-finding mission to Israel. He must have stumbled across something rotten while fact finding. When he returned from Israel he became an open sympathiser of the plight of Palestinian citizens. He's become highly critical of Israel as a result of being at the front row of where it's all happening.
Enter Hendryk Broder, a Judeo-German political commentator who's know for his partisan support of Israel. He attacks left-wing pacifists by calling them anti-semitists. No constructive debate can be held with this kind of man. Van Agt's scepticism towards Israel has been noticed by Broder, as he's called him a christian anti-semite now. He based this on no other proof than that van Agt dared criticize Israel. I can now consider Broder another coward using ethnic background and history to deflect criticism and shun responsibility.
Van Agt fortunately seems well aware of this argument. It must be getting old. His response was that this was a well known method to silence critics of Israel. I must applaud him for his sharp sense and courage. His ally, Hajo Meijer, a Jewish Auschwitz survivor, is also a writer and critic of Israel. Broder has called this person of semitic descent an anti-semite as well. Screw you Broder! You don't even know who you're talking about. In contrary to yourself, Meijer actually witnessed real anti-semitism the likes of which you never experienced, because you're from the 50's! You're a blind man, trying to paint your brother as a racist when you are the only one who has anything in common with a true racist: sweeping generalisations! Your American counterpart is the partisan that claims his opponent has no patriotism because that opponent is practicing his right to free speech by questioning the government's leadership; the cornerstone of democracy.
And Broder is not the only one who has picked up on this sham of a tactic. Desmond Tutu has also been called a closet Nazi when he questioned Israel's policies. I kid you not! Some of the most powerful allies in the fight to end Apartheid were Jews, and the freedom loving people of South Africa are indebted to these countrymen. But Free Speech as the price for freedom? Never! You would be right back at square one if you shut up because someone does not like his fault laid bare: paternalism, authoritarianism, fascism. The pro-Israel lobby must stop bullying critics, or they will become themselves what they hate most. It is very demeaning for actual victims of fascism and persecution, like Hajo Meijer was. The pro-Israel lobby is incredibly racist: it tries to maintain a distinction between Jews and non-Jews in a world that needs to grow out of judging others by their creed, skin colour or culture!
But this time, regretably, the group using such cheap below-the-waist shots are the pro-Israel lobby. Criticizing Israel equals you wanting to see it utterly destroyed. How un-nuanced can it get? This time they took a really inlikely victim: a Dutch ex-minister named Dries van Agt. Van Agt is a conservative christian politician. A former member a conservative thinktankt that fell from grace when its leader alligned itself with a racist dumb blonde party leader (van Agt BTW left exactly for this reason). He peppered his speech with ancient words. And in his wilder years he sought out open confrontation with a social-democratic premier by means of denigrating comparisons.
But in 2005, he had a revelation on a fact-finding mission to Israel. He must have stumbled across something rotten while fact finding. When he returned from Israel he became an open sympathiser of the plight of Palestinian citizens. He's become highly critical of Israel as a result of being at the front row of where it's all happening.
Enter Hendryk Broder, a Judeo-German political commentator who's know for his partisan support of Israel. He attacks left-wing pacifists by calling them anti-semitists. No constructive debate can be held with this kind of man. Van Agt's scepticism towards Israel has been noticed by Broder, as he's called him a christian anti-semite now. He based this on no other proof than that van Agt dared criticize Israel. I can now consider Broder another coward using ethnic background and history to deflect criticism and shun responsibility.
Van Agt fortunately seems well aware of this argument. It must be getting old. His response was that this was a well known method to silence critics of Israel. I must applaud him for his sharp sense and courage. His ally, Hajo Meijer, a Jewish Auschwitz survivor, is also a writer and critic of Israel. Broder has called this person of semitic descent an anti-semite as well. Screw you Broder! You don't even know who you're talking about. In contrary to yourself, Meijer actually witnessed real anti-semitism the likes of which you never experienced, because you're from the 50's! You're a blind man, trying to paint your brother as a racist when you are the only one who has anything in common with a true racist: sweeping generalisations! Your American counterpart is the partisan that claims his opponent has no patriotism because that opponent is practicing his right to free speech by questioning the government's leadership; the cornerstone of democracy.
And Broder is not the only one who has picked up on this sham of a tactic. Desmond Tutu has also been called a closet Nazi when he questioned Israel's policies. I kid you not! Some of the most powerful allies in the fight to end Apartheid were Jews, and the freedom loving people of South Africa are indebted to these countrymen. But Free Speech as the price for freedom? Never! You would be right back at square one if you shut up because someone does not like his fault laid bare: paternalism, authoritarianism, fascism. The pro-Israel lobby must stop bullying critics, or they will become themselves what they hate most. It is very demeaning for actual victims of fascism and persecution, like Hajo Meijer was. The pro-Israel lobby is incredibly racist: it tries to maintain a distinction between Jews and non-Jews in a world that needs to grow out of judging others by their creed, skin colour or culture!
Monday, March 3, 2008
War is Dumb
I have very little respect for Israel. There, I said it. Their military incompetence is mind-numbing. I don't mean their discipline, tactics, doctrines and superior firepower. I mean their complete disregard of strategy. If the whole terror bombing of Beirut wasn't overkill for kidnappings up two of their soldiers if not just a superiority complex that would frighten the most ardent Nazi if it had been the German people.
In the last 8 years, 13 Israelis have died from rocket attacks. So what!? Excuse my momemtary disregard of human lives, but how many Palestinians have been killed by Israeli missiles? Really, stop whining you're the victims for Christian X's sake! If you'd do some basic math, you'd come to some shocking conclusions: 1) Palestinian casualties are higher and 2) Israel is totally winning on all fronts.
I suppose the bodycount of Palestinian terrorists and civilians versus Israeli soldiers and civilians speaks for itself. But to truly comprehend (or rather, be completely appalled at this senseless war) how much Hamas fails, let's look at it from their perspective. You can't understand the situation and problem until you look at it from both viewpoints.
Okay, Hamas and Jihad continuously launch their Qassam rockets at Israeli settlements as repercussions. I don't know much about military-industrial prices, but let's say each rocket costs a hundred dollar (especially these fine, smuggled ones that come from Iran and Egypt). Every time the grand pooha of Hamas feels Israel must die, his lackeys fire over a hundred of these things at Israel. It's fireworks twice a year in Palestine. And they spend $10.000 on rockets on their shindig. Still, they are lucky to hit anything at all. These fighters and their rockets must be wildly inaccurate if they've fired thousands of these things, and yet only killed 13 civilians asside from the collateral damage, which can't be nearly as high as what these things cost Hamas. So let's get one thing established: terrorists suck as War of Attrition!
Have you seen the Israeli responses? They bulldoze villages, easily offsetting the damage to their (illegal) settlements. Their snipers can theoretically take out the command structure with one bullet, much cheaper than a hundred rockets. The helicopter missiles of the Israeli Airforce are laser guided and precise (so precise in fact, that Beirut is no longer standing, asside from the intended targets) and way more deadly that anything Hamas smuggles over the border. I don't know about you, but I don't need an in depth investigation to tell me Israel can, and is causing much greater losses both in manpower and in money value.
In face of the hard numbers, there is only one conclusion: Hamas is losing, and they make themselves look like incompetent fools as they are doing so. Their complete lack of economic skill, even in the bloody world of murder and genocide, makes you praise the Nazis for their efficiency in this department. In calmer moods I'll probably condemn those Nazis for their lack of humanity and their great evil. But say for yourself. Compare Qassam rockets to Zyklon gas. Quiet, efficient, cheap, lethal. All the advantages with none of the mess! If the terrorists still can't see how they're evil, murderous and demonic for their war, and also not how dumb they're waging it by practically killing Israelis by throwing money as hard as they can, I really really wish we can see them as Darwin awards nominees. They seriously need to be exterminated to ensure nobody in history will be so gruellingly ineffective and stupid at warfare, or anything else! Jock off and die already!
But the worst yet is that Israelis are actually afraid of such incompetent enemies!Yeah, so Qassam rockets are not the only means Hamas and Jihad have. Still, can't they see that Hamas is going to run out of funds at this rate while the Israeli army has more finances and better bureacracy? That every single weapon in the Israeli arsenal could cause more casualties than these 'dreaded' Qassam missiles? That their soldiers are much stronger? If they can't see this, they're just as dumb. And this was proven before, as they always take the bait Hamas puts out and go in guns blazing and killing everyone left and right, murdering as much and more than Hamas, just more effectively?
If these blockheads in Israel are so afraid of rocket attacks on their illegal colonies, just evacuate the darn places! You had no right to be there anyway, since you signed treaties that are either current, or have been violated already by both. Just abadon! Make it a buffer zone. And shoot every militant that ventures out of Gaza on sight. Those terrorists can't fire at anything out of range. And once they advance to get back in range and they're out of civilian presence, it's whack-a-mole time!
There, I solved your little intifada. Now gimme my Nobel peace price and the grants your put on the heads of these soon-to-be dead terrorists.
In the last 8 years, 13 Israelis have died from rocket attacks. So what!? Excuse my momemtary disregard of human lives, but how many Palestinians have been killed by Israeli missiles? Really, stop whining you're the victims for Christian X's sake! If you'd do some basic math, you'd come to some shocking conclusions: 1) Palestinian casualties are higher and 2) Israel is totally winning on all fronts.
I suppose the bodycount of Palestinian terrorists and civilians versus Israeli soldiers and civilians speaks for itself. But to truly comprehend (or rather, be completely appalled at this senseless war) how much Hamas fails, let's look at it from their perspective. You can't understand the situation and problem until you look at it from both viewpoints.
Okay, Hamas and Jihad continuously launch their Qassam rockets at Israeli settlements as repercussions. I don't know much about military-industrial prices, but let's say each rocket costs a hundred dollar (especially these fine, smuggled ones that come from Iran and Egypt). Every time the grand pooha of Hamas feels Israel must die, his lackeys fire over a hundred of these things at Israel. It's fireworks twice a year in Palestine. And they spend $10.000 on rockets on their shindig. Still, they are lucky to hit anything at all. These fighters and their rockets must be wildly inaccurate if they've fired thousands of these things, and yet only killed 13 civilians asside from the collateral damage, which can't be nearly as high as what these things cost Hamas. So let's get one thing established: terrorists suck as War of Attrition!
Have you seen the Israeli responses? They bulldoze villages, easily offsetting the damage to their (illegal) settlements. Their snipers can theoretically take out the command structure with one bullet, much cheaper than a hundred rockets. The helicopter missiles of the Israeli Airforce are laser guided and precise (so precise in fact, that Beirut is no longer standing, asside from the intended targets) and way more deadly that anything Hamas smuggles over the border. I don't know about you, but I don't need an in depth investigation to tell me Israel can, and is causing much greater losses both in manpower and in money value.
In face of the hard numbers, there is only one conclusion: Hamas is losing, and they make themselves look like incompetent fools as they are doing so. Their complete lack of economic skill, even in the bloody world of murder and genocide, makes you praise the Nazis for their efficiency in this department. In calmer moods I'll probably condemn those Nazis for their lack of humanity and their great evil. But say for yourself. Compare Qassam rockets to Zyklon gas. Quiet, efficient, cheap, lethal. All the advantages with none of the mess! If the terrorists still can't see how they're evil, murderous and demonic for their war, and also not how dumb they're waging it by practically killing Israelis by throwing money as hard as they can, I really really wish we can see them as Darwin awards nominees. They seriously need to be exterminated to ensure nobody in history will be so gruellingly ineffective and stupid at warfare, or anything else! Jock off and die already!
But the worst yet is that Israelis are actually afraid of such incompetent enemies!Yeah, so Qassam rockets are not the only means Hamas and Jihad have. Still, can't they see that Hamas is going to run out of funds at this rate while the Israeli army has more finances and better bureacracy? That every single weapon in the Israeli arsenal could cause more casualties than these 'dreaded' Qassam missiles? That their soldiers are much stronger? If they can't see this, they're just as dumb. And this was proven before, as they always take the bait Hamas puts out and go in guns blazing and killing everyone left and right, murdering as much and more than Hamas, just more effectively?
If these blockheads in Israel are so afraid of rocket attacks on their illegal colonies, just evacuate the darn places! You had no right to be there anyway, since you signed treaties that are either current, or have been violated already by both. Just abadon! Make it a buffer zone. And shoot every militant that ventures out of Gaza on sight. Those terrorists can't fire at anything out of range. And once they advance to get back in range and they're out of civilian presence, it's whack-a-mole time!
There, I solved your little intifada. Now gimme my Nobel peace price and the grants your put on the heads of these soon-to-be dead terrorists.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Need a light?
This may be a bit minor, but I'm a little annoyed right now by Stupid Traffic Law #4369: Automobilists must keep their lights on during daytime. The minister is planning to make this mandatory. It's stupid for several reasons.
1) It's one more example of the government forcing people to do things one way. Are you gonna get fined for this, just as you can get fined for not being able to identify yourself at any and all times?
2) It'll increase pollution slightly, and needlesly so. In a time when it's EU policy to avoid unnecessary CO2 emission this idea is quite counterproductive.
3) It will only increase wear and tear on the battery and the lights.
4) We already have a g****** ball of fire called the sun providing us with light during the day.
The benefits don't seem to outweight the costs of freedom, reliability, efficiency and durability. The stated reason: this will safe a few lives. Ahah, sure. You know what would safe lives in traffic? To not stop for some Jack S fooling around but roadkill the sucker before he endangers any other people around him. It might knock some sense into people. But what mister Transportation Minister proposes is an unproven method of saving lives as he look at it too remotely and fails to see the details.
1) In countries that made this mandatory (like Finland) where it had an effect, that has to do with the fact that it's dark early and even in broad daylight there are more shadows. Plus the roads are often deserted there unlike Holland, the drivers there are not on the edge of their seats all the time, and less attentive, thus a visual aid like headlights will highlight oncoming traffic for them.
2) Bicyclist and motorcyclists claim that this increases reliance on the headlights rather than looking around personally for traffic coming from left and right and makes drivers less attentive. Since everybody is already using a TomTom, a driver is already pressed for time and attention.
3) Some other countries that made this mandatory report no decrease in traffic fatalities despite the conditions being argueably less favorable than in Holland. Austria sounds like a lot darker with its mountains casting shadows and many more forests, yet they still don't notice a difference.
Like I said, the chance of saving a few lives (which is very unlikely) doesn't weight up to the disadvantages, however small inconveniences they are (which speak volumes about how neglegible the benefits will be). They should shelve this idea, then appoint me Prime Minister so we can start importing a big dose of common sense into the Kingdom of Politics from Real Life Land. Then I'll start scrapping a whole buttload of regulations and stupid laws, both national and international, that completely miss their mark.
1) It's one more example of the government forcing people to do things one way. Are you gonna get fined for this, just as you can get fined for not being able to identify yourself at any and all times?
2) It'll increase pollution slightly, and needlesly so. In a time when it's EU policy to avoid unnecessary CO2 emission this idea is quite counterproductive.
3) It will only increase wear and tear on the battery and the lights.
4) We already have a g****** ball of fire called the sun providing us with light during the day.
The benefits don't seem to outweight the costs of freedom, reliability, efficiency and durability. The stated reason: this will safe a few lives. Ahah, sure. You know what would safe lives in traffic? To not stop for some Jack S fooling around but roadkill the sucker before he endangers any other people around him. It might knock some sense into people. But what mister Transportation Minister proposes is an unproven method of saving lives as he look at it too remotely and fails to see the details.
1) In countries that made this mandatory (like Finland) where it had an effect, that has to do with the fact that it's dark early and even in broad daylight there are more shadows. Plus the roads are often deserted there unlike Holland, the drivers there are not on the edge of their seats all the time, and less attentive, thus a visual aid like headlights will highlight oncoming traffic for them.
2) Bicyclist and motorcyclists claim that this increases reliance on the headlights rather than looking around personally for traffic coming from left and right and makes drivers less attentive. Since everybody is already using a TomTom, a driver is already pressed for time and attention.
3) Some other countries that made this mandatory report no decrease in traffic fatalities despite the conditions being argueably less favorable than in Holland. Austria sounds like a lot darker with its mountains casting shadows and many more forests, yet they still don't notice a difference.
Like I said, the chance of saving a few lives (which is very unlikely) doesn't weight up to the disadvantages, however small inconveniences they are (which speak volumes about how neglegible the benefits will be). They should shelve this idea, then appoint me Prime Minister so we can start importing a big dose of common sense into the Kingdom of Politics from Real Life Land. Then I'll start scrapping a whole buttload of regulations and stupid laws, both national and international, that completely miss their mark.
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