Israel gave serious thought this spring to launching a military strike on Iran’s nuclear sites but was told by President George W Bush that he would not support it and did not expect to revise that view for the rest of his presidency…
So Bush is now THE voice or reason? We’re all screwed.
Read the scary news from The Guardian here.
Alright, so Bush has unilaterally OK’d military raids into Pakistan -incursions in which civilians have been killed- without seeking permission first from the Pakistani government. This is of course not the first time something of this sort happens, but it seems like it being ok is SO ingrained in culture and driven home by the media that it doesn’t seem to cause anyone to flinch. I’m going to get all Chomskyan on you:
Lets start from the beginning:
If you look at the UN Charter, chapter 1, article 2:
2. All Members, in order to ensure to all of them the rights and benefits resulting from membership, shall fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance with the present Charter.
Looking through my pictures of the past visit to P.S.1, I found this picture of one of the greatest pieces currently on display. I can’t really remember the artist’s name (nor the piece’s name for that matter) but its simplicity, its economy of means and its in-your-face-ness are what make it completely astounding to walk through. It’s in the second floor, so if you have a chance to visit the museum, don’t miss it.
A passage from Manuel DeLanda’s book “War in the Age of Intelligent Machines” (1991), which I’m almost done with.
Almost without exception, secret service organizations have thrived in times of turbulence and, conversely, have seen their power vanish as turmoil slows. For this reason, they survive by inciting social turbulence, spreading rumors and inventing imaginary enemies, fifth columns, and bomber and missile gaps. They need to keep society in constant alert, in a generalized state of fear and paranoia, in order to sustain themselves. This has led to the development of a gigantic “espionage industry, ” whose entire existence is based on a bluff few governments dare to call:
This is what the main Colombian newspaper looked liked today at 4:00pm after the rescuing by the army of some high profile hostages held by the FARC.
Nevermind the other 700+ non high profile still held captive.
If it is Obama, Clinton or McCain in regards to the U.S Middle East policy? Not much. Chomsky has a short article on some of the key points based on the candidates record/positions.
For the record: I agree.
Read it in his website here.
Nothing says “temporary stay” like the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, the U.S.’s largest diplomatic compound anywhere in the world, which is now ready.
“It’s been a difficult few weeks, rockets are bouncing off your buildings, and maintaining focus can be an occasional challenge,” (ambassador) Crocker said…
Read the CNN article here.
Read my previous entry here.
via [archinect]
“For Mr. Bush, Friday was an emotional day of tourism at sights special to Jews and Christians. He visited Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust museum, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. At least twice, Mr. Bush had tears in his eyes, said Avner Shalev, the chairman of the museum.
At one point Mr. Bush stopped before aerial photos of the Auschwitz death camp taken by American planes during World War II, and asked Ms. Rice why the American military did not bomb the camp. “We should have bombed it,” he told her, Mr. Shalev told reporters later.” the NYT article reads (my emphasis).
Never mind the thousands of prisoners…
Read the NYT article here.
This is not quite news anymore, but some plans and lousy renderings of the U.S. embassy in Iraq were placed online by the architecture firm in charge of the design, Berger Devine Yaeger. Needless to say, the Department of Justice wasn’t too thrilled about having them on the public domain so they pulled the images down, the website was shutdown, etc. The thing is, you can still find them all over the web.
The design, I’m not even going to comment on. Nor on what this 104-acre monster implies in terms of the ‘temporary’ occupation, but I have to say though, that the renderings just suck. (more…)