Saturday, August 05, 2006
Our World On A Saturday Morning
No Cuckoos in Lebanon
"Sumer is ycomen in,
Loude sing cuckou!
Groweth seed and bloweth meed,
And springth the wode now.
Sing cuckou!"
---Anonymous (13th Century English Poem)
The headlines paint a bleak picture of what is happening in our world on this sunny morning in July. For us in the San Francisco Bay area the weather is balmy. Mild temperature and blue sky. One cannot,however, escape what is happening in Lebanon, Gaza, and Iraq. If there are cuckoos, they are not singing. People in Israel too have not escaped suffering but I am with those whose sympathies are with the civilians who have received the brunt of Israel's brute force.
Emma Brockes writes in The Guardian, "Oh God, Redux": "At this stage, the shelf starts to buckle. Embedded in these stories was speculation about Iran's nuclear threat, a reminder that Gaza is still under siege, analysis of Tony Blair's fallout with his cabinet and footage of his joint press conference with George Bush, which when it was shown the first time round - Blair frowning powerfully, Bush sinisterly jocular - was a tipping point into despair for lots of people. The final item on the news that evening couldn't have been more symbolic if it had shown the ravens leaving the Tower of London. Fidel Castro, the one constant in all our lives, was on the blink. That's when I reached for the phone and -
"We're fucked."
- Biblical prophesy sites have been quick to jump on the Israel/Lebanon crisis as a realisation of Thessalonians 5:3 ("While people are saying, 'Peace and safety,' destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape ...") and the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39. They must be the only people actively enjoying the situation. "Got that dancing feeling on the inside of me," posts one contributor to the Rapture Ready website, an outfit dedicated to scouring world events for signs of the second coming. Its talkboards are in a state of high excitement at the moment. "This is the busiest I've ever seen this website in a few years!" posts one contributor. "I have been having rapture dreams and I can't believe that this is really it! We are on the edge of eternity!!!!!!!"
- "Whoa! I can sure feel the glory bumps after reading this thread!" replies another contributor and another points out that there are exactly 40 days between the date on which the first Israeli soldier was kidnapped and that day's date, which, he writes, "I find to be a HUGE coincidence."
I must confess that the thought of a world without the holy rollers -- assuming that they would soon ascend to heaven -- makes me happy. I shall take my chances of being left behind.
And there is news about agreement being reached between the U.S. and France on a mid-east truce. It was time. Let us hope that peace, a lasting peace prevails in Lebanon.
Abeer Hamza
The case against soldiers accused of rape and murder of a 14-year old Iraqi girl in Mahmudiya is making progress. The NY Times reported: "On March 13, a group of American soldiers sitting at a checkpoint south of Baghdad were asked to look into a horrible crime: a 14-year-old Iraqi girl had been raped, then killed along with her family in their house nearby in Mahmudiya."
- Those soldiers, along with others from their checkpoint, walked over and took detailed forensic photographs of the charred and bullet-riddled bodies, as if it were a routine investigation of an insurgent attack, according to a defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
- Now, those photographs are likely to serve as evidence in the military’s prosecution of the case, which opens a new chapter tomorrow when an Article 32 hearing, the rough equivalent of a grand jury proceeding, begins in Baghdad for five soldiers accused in the crime.
Dog Days For Bush and Blair
Tony Blair postponed his vacation in Bermuda, and President Bush has decided to shorten his annual vacation in Crawford. Doubt if he took any books to read. In the meantime, GOP candidates worried about their prospects in mid-term election are keeping their distance from El Jefe. Michael Abramowitz in the Post: "On Capitol Hill, Rep. Mark Kennedy (Minn.) and Sen. James M. Talent (Mo.) are known as loyal Republican soldiers, reliable votes for President Bush on tax cuts and the Iraq war. In elections past, they have aired advertisements featuring the president and have stumped with him at public rallies."
- This year, both are running for Senate seats, but their television ads have made no mention of Bush -- and have been conspicuous in distancing the candidates from their partisan affiliation. "Most people don't care if you're red or blue, Republican or Democrat," Talent's ad states. A recent ad from Kennedy says, "He doesn't do what the party says to."
