Mr. 10% & Mr. Khalizad

Did anyone hear about Zalmay Khalizad meeting with Mr. 10%, Asif Zardari? Yeah, the mentally-ill corrupt bastard riding on his wife's tainted legacy for president of Pakistan. Apparently Mr. Khalizad wasn't supposed to do that.

I remember my cousin telling me that Mr. Khalizad was going to be visiting Seton Hall and that if there were any questions I wanted answered then just send them to her. So I asked something along the lines of, how could the Iraqi people view the invasion of Iraq as one for freedom if we had been supporting Saddam for ten years, bomb them during the Gulf War, ignore their revolt against Saddam (which was crushed without mercy), and then slap sanctions on them that would end up killing 500,000 Iraqi children? He completely danced around that question and didn't really give an answer.

Oh, and who can forget him lecturing Russia on human rights? What a joke!

DNC and Biden

The Democratic National Convention is a place where people go to preach big government, continued support for dictatorships, and the urge to go to war with Iran. It sucks. It's the same as the GOP Convention, but with less patriotism (thank god!). We get corrupt phony politicians to speak at such an event, and one of the next possible fuhrers of the US!

As for Joe Biden being named Obama's VP, I find it kind of funny. The guy was bragging on Meet the Press how he wanted to curb our civil liberties after the Oklahoma City bombings in 1995, showing how tough on terrorism he is. He also brags how he's met with more corrupt despots around the world than McCain has. The guy's a joke.

Those Recreate '68 people are awesome. Good for them. Hopefully they start to riot when Biden speaks.

Blah Post 1

I really don't know what to write about. The whole conflict between Russia and Georgia is just getting annoying. McCain's approach towards Russia is probably going to result with a mauling from the Bear. NATO is an outdated organisation, let's end it. The USSR is gone. Let's not expand into Russia's sphere. I might write a little more about it. But it's really pissing me off.

Especially that Sakashvilli guy. What a jerk. This great example of a democratically-elected leader decided to close down opposition media and beat up protestors. But no, we won't hear about that in the western media.

I've been watching a lot of videos of Michael Scheuer lately. The guy is really smart and I don't understand why people won't listen to him. Oh wait, he's on the "fringe". He doesn't support the Israelis (or the Saudis, or Egyptians, or Jordanians). Bill Maher tried to trap him with a question about the whether or not the US should have given aid to Israel in the Yom Kippur War. He just went out and said after 1973 the US really should have revised its policy towards Israel. Smart answer and Bill Maher changed the topic. But I like Maher simply because he's one of the only media guys going out and supporting someone like Ron Paul.

I'll leave with a quote I plagarised from McCain (get it?):

We are all South Ossetians and Abkhazians.

Declare Independence!!!

Vacation

No posts between tomorrow and Sunday. Next Monday I will post stuff. Here's me summary of the War in Gerogia going on right now:

-South Ossetia has every right to seceed from Georgia. Georgia has no right to be there and try to reclaim it.

-Russia has no right to assist in such secession. Such actions should be made by the people, not foreign governments. They also have no right to go into Georgian territory.

-Sakashvili is a fascist. He shuts down opposition media, tries to get Sotuh Ossetia back into the fold with force, and then claims it's all Russian aggression. I used to like this guy, mainly because he providied a safe haven for the Chechen guerillas. But he sucks now.

-The US should not get involved. I've heard Neo-cons like William Kristol advocate the need to intervene in Georgia. Bullshit. If you want to ignite a second Cold War and get our forces tied up in another imperialist adventure, then sure, go to war with Russia. A nuclear holocaust will be something we can all enjoy.

Fuck McCain
Fuck Obama
Vote Third-party.

Impeaching Musharraf

Today has been a great day so far. US beats Japan 1-0 in the opening match of the Olympic football tournament. Got to watch the Mets from a luxury suite which they won 5-3 thanks to a David Wright walk-off home run. And Mike Mussina is 14-7 and looking for his 15th win tonight.

But Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf, might be having his worst. He can't attend the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics since impeachment proceedings are beginning. Mr 10% and his cohort Nawaz Sharif have finally met and discussed Musharraf's impeachment, and it's apprently going to happen.

But who cares? I sure as hell don't. Next president is going to be just as corrupt and Pakistan will yet again be fucked. The same players in Pakistani politics from those terrible 90's years (at least for Pakistan) are coming back. It seems the Pakistani people don't like fresh faces. They won't bother to elect a man like Imran Khan, a man with no blood on his hands and has done so much for Pakistan. He spent $15M to build a college! Can Mr. 10% and Mr. Sharif boast that? I know they can boast they stole a lot more than that from government funds, that's for sure.

There's an old saying that always gets thrown around in Pakistan. Pakistan First. I finally understand what that means. Pakistan is the first nation to get raped by the same people constantly. This song explains it all.

Afghaniland

This narco-craziness-"country" is ranked at a lowly 172nd out 180 in the Corruption Perceptions Index. Apostates get sentenced to death. Free speech isn't really free. Crazy people run around with guns burning books (apparently they're known as the Taliban). What a country. So what to do?

We all love democracy. Taliban wasn't one, the government in power doesn't have the right to be called one right now. But what if I told you about a new super-improved version that is currently workin in a thrid-world tribal oriented nation? Wouldn't you want to give it a shot?

Enter the Republic of Somaliland. It considers itself an indepedent nation, but is not recognized by anyone. It fought a long war with the former Somali dictator Siad Barre and won its independence in 1991. It's very stable, with a functioning economy (although a small one), and an interesting form of government.

You have an upper house of tribal elders representing the different clans. The lower house is democratically elected, although it is limited to two parties (in the first Somalian election after independence there were thousands of political parties representing all the different clans and families. It was terrible. So they limited it to two political parties), with some calling for a third.

Now the difference between Afghanistan and Somaliland is that Afghanistan is very diverse, with numerous ethnic groups currently residing there. I don't know how tribes in Afghanistan would handle it. But hey let's give it a shot.

And for now Afghanistan can be proud that it has a cool song.

Japan Explains Suicide Bombings?

One of my favorite shows is Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. It's about a Japanese police agency known as Section 9 that combats "cyberterrorism" in the year 2030. The main arc of the second season was about a refugee crisis in Japan with thousands of people coming in from the Asian mainland.

One of the episodes is about suicide bombings. Refugees had been conducting suicide bombing operations all over Fukuoka. One of the characters, Ishikawa, defines suicide bombing the best. It's an act committed by desperate people who are driven by their own personal plight and desperation. Notice he didn't say religion.

Robert Pape conducted a study on suicide bombing, publishing a book about titled Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism. He found that suicide bombings are conducted: "to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from territory that the terrorists consider to be their homeland". The most suicide bombings conducted are by the Tamil Tigers, a Tamil nationalist group that is predominantly Hindu. In fact 85% of suicide bombings are conducted by secular organizations.

Now it was the Japanese who conducted the first suicide bombing in Israel (Nihon Sekigun during the Lod Airport massacre). And don't forget those Kamikaze pilots in WWII. I think more people should listen to the Japanese on this sort of stuff.