Politics 4

This Catalog page allows me to add titles and descriptions next to a catalog of photos. As seen in the examples below, I can easily adapt this set-up to a business site, personal site, family site, portfolio site, and much more.

Stands strong and proud.

Relax and clear your mind.

Our states' GDPs in terms of other countries GDPs

You'd be pissed too...

“It’s time to recognise that the whole Zionist project was a tragic mistake. Understandable maybe, under the terrible circumstances of European anti-Semitism, and the Holocaust, but a historic mistake nevertheless. Driving another whole people off the land they’d called home for hundreds of years, expelling them from their homes, their farms and their businesses, and setting up an ethnically exclusive theocratic state was just dumb and dangerous. How did they expect the Palestinians would react?” ...

I see several possible definitions to Zionism today:

1. A modern realisation that Jews are in fact a people and have a legitimacy to consider themselves as such.

2.The belief that Jews should immigrate to the Land of Israel, settle it and prosper there.

3. The belief that Jews have a national privilege on Palestine, and the State of Israel has a right to discriminate against non-Jews (or against Jews) in order to maintain the Jewish nature of Israel.

 Now let's analyse them one after the other. Definition No. 1 is perfectly valid as Jews are indeed a people.

Definition No. 2 is valid, but it stems from a more general principle of open immigration: any lawful person has a basic ethical right to immigrate to any country, live there and work there. A country does not have a right to try to prevent him from doing it by force. Otherwise, it's like pointing a gun against his head and telling him to leave. The fact that a lot of governments pose limits on immigration to their countries, or even expel honest, lawful immigrants, does not make this principle less valid. As a particular case of this, Jews have a right to immigrate to Israel. So do non-Jews. Jews and non-Jews also have a right to immigrate to any other country.

Now let's try to analyse definition no. 3. Why it is Wrong for Israel to have Constitutional Discrimination Private individuals have a right to non-violently discriminate either by accident or because of subconscious reasons, or even maliciously. That's because discrimination does not constitute of initiatory force, threat of force or fraud, that are the only real crimes. (Not to mention that discrimination is much harder to prove than real crimes such as murder, theft or rape). However, governments being a mandatory country-wide monopoly cannot allow itself to discriminate against any sector of the populace. In Israel some laws discriminate against non-Jews or even Jews. For example, only Jews can receive citizenship automatically upon immigration to Israel. A Non-Jew who wishes to receive an Israeli citizenship will have a much harder time. Jews and their spouses cannot take part in civil marriages, divorces and adoptions. Arab Muslims and Christians are not required to serve in the Israeli Military, which Jews are obliged to. And Jews may not be employed on Saturdays in Israel. All of this constitutional discrimination is extremely unhealthy and has no good reason. Most Israeli Jews believe it is required to maintain the Jewish nature of Israel, but that's not the case. And I'd rather that Israel's Jewish nature diminishes somewhat, than for it to remain a country with uneven laws. The entire claim that Israel will be destroyed from the inside if we allow an open immigration, is bogus because most of the non-Jews who immigrate to Israel are not Palestinians, much less hyper-nationalistic ones. (And if an immigrant causes too much trouble, he can always be expelled.) Constitutional racism begets personal racism. There is no way to describe the discriminatory laws that Israel has except as constitutional racism, and trying to deny it is futile. (And I am an Israeli Jew). Israel is the land of the Israeli rather than the land of the Jew, and it's high time its laws reflected that. Addressing the Jewish "Biblical Rights" Claims Often you'll hear pro-Discrimination advocates claiming that Jews have rights on Palestine because that's what the Old Testament claims. However, like it or not, the Old Testament cannot serve as an objective proof for anything. There are plenty of things that are written in the Bible that will seem ridiculous to modern thinkers. It's high time we understand that the Bible is not "the absolute truth" but rather a set of subjective ancient (and antiquitated) writings. In order to prove something it's not good enough to say that "X said so" or "it was written here". Rather, one should prove it using Logic and based on more basic, axiomatic, facts. With all due respect, the Bible says a great deal of nonsense, and even contradicts itself many times. Another reason why relying on the Bible for a source of legitimacy is because it is not entirely clear who the Israelites and Judeans that are metioned there are. The Christians claim they are the true Israelites. The Muslims also make this claim. How can you counterclaim this? Finally, this entire theme is besides the point. The Israeli Jews have a right to live in Israel because they are living there now, and banishing them would be an act of force. This is also the case for the Arabs who live in Israel, and every person living anywhere else. Preventing immigration of lawful people is unethical for similar reasons. And the Bible or any other subjective source has nothing to do with it. Definitions of Zionism - Concluded I brought several contemporary definitions of Zionism, but may have missed some. While overlapping, these definitions of Zionism, mean completely different things. As such calling someone "Zionist" or "anti-Zionist" is meaningless. Next, I'll try to make some distinictions between other related terms. Anti/Pro-Israel, Anti-Semite, Anti-Zionist, etc. On April 2006, someone sent a message to the Israeli Linux mailing list with a post named "Google is Anti-semitic". (See my reply). He claimed that "Google is a bunch of anti-semites" and wrote a blog entry titled "Google Supports Terrorism". The basis for his claim was the fact that Google excluded the Israeli standard timezone in its Google Analytics service (while including the timezone of several other "Terror-supporting" countries.). This incident demonstrates a contemporary problem of the terms "Anti-Israel", "Anti-Semite" and "Anti-Zionist": all of them are often confused and misunderstood, and many times maliciously. Let's keep the record straight: if someone opposes the discriminatory nature of the state of Israel, that does not make him "Anti-Israel". And it certainly does not make him an "Anti-Semite". Furthermore, some people who express anti-Israeli political opinions are not anti-Semite (= People who hate Jews). As for Anti-Zionism, I once told my sister that I'm an anti-Zionist, and she said it made her very sad that I am. Then when I told her that I meant that I oppose the Israeli constitutional discrimination, she said that that's not what she thought I meant. Anti-Zionism has several meanings, and as such a person who identifies himself as an anti-Zionist should explain what he means or stop using the term altogether. Conclusion A lot of the sensitivity of Israelis and pro-Israelis is due to disputed terminology. A lot of the problems of Israel are due to its unethical constitutional discrimination. And people who try to support Israel should be wiser than to default on the Jewish "Biblical rights to the Land of Israel".

102 Reasons to Hate Bush -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Below we have compiled a listed of 102 fact-based reasons to hate George "Dumbya" Bush. If these aren't good enough reasons, we don't know what would be!

In exchange for large U.S. oil companies gaining access to occupied territories, Bush reportedly gave $43 million of your tax dollars to the Taliban in May of 2001 - only 4 months before their September 11th attacks on the United States!

Bush had no concern about terrorist attacks on the U.S. before 9/11/01 (see #12 for more info).

Bush wholeheartedly supported the infamous "Patriot Act," which infringes on most of your constitutional rights. In addition, he is an outspoken supporter of the "Patriot Act II."

The Bush Regime failed to protect the people of Baghdad from looting, riots, bombings, and other undue circumstances, following the fall of the city - so that the oil ministry would be heavily guarded by U.S. troops.

Bush pulled the United States out of the Kyoto Treaty, a global warming agreement between major world powers, signed in 1997.

Bush banned federal aid to any international group offering abortions or abortion counseling, even if their funding from those projects came from other sources. THE HYPOCRISY HAS SPOKEN… although the Bush Regime has been attacking abortion rights in the U.S. too...

Bush used his presidential powers to repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax for corporations. All taxes paid under the AMT since its 1987 inception were refunded to the corporations. Does anyone else smell Bush's campaign finance scheme?

CRIMINAL ALERT!!! Bush appointed Elliott Abrams to the National Security Council. Abrams was convicted during the Reagan administration for Iran-Contra ties. Do you really feel safe with a convicted criminal helping to oversee national security?

Bush proposed to nominate the attorney responsible for the court case that weakened the Americans with Disabilities Act, Jeffrey Sutton, to judgeship in a federal appeals court.

Bush turned the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks on the U.S. into a scheme to justify severely limiting civil rights and attacking the Constitution (see #3), and to avert public attention from the extreme economic threats the Bush Regime has invoked upon the millions of middle-class, working-class, and poor Americans, while giving break after break to large corporations and rich individuals.

 Of Bush's proposed $2 trillion tax cut 43% goes to the wealthiest 1% of Americans.

After Bush's "election" was officially announced, President Clinton requested numerous meetings with Bush - specifically to discuss terrorists threats and making them a priority of Bush's Regime. Bush refused to meet with Pres. Clinton, but allowed one of his staff "underlings" to talk to Clinton instead. Not surprisingly, Bush never bothered to find out what Clinton had to say.

Bush cut $35 million in funding for doctors to receive advanced pediatric training. Is this him saying, "No child left behind, unless they're ill"??

 Bush has already packed the federal courts with radical conservative judges - Charles Pickering, Pricilla Owens, and Miguel Estrada - to name a few...

 Bush loved Enron! To prove it, he appointed Thomas White as the Army Secretary. White is a former Enron executive who conveniently sold his stock after an Enron official contacted him. Oh yeah, and he is under criminal investigation for the Enron thing!

 Bush used his infinite "wisdom" to completely halt international negotiations designed to monitor and prevent the production of biological and chemical weapons.

 Bush refused to federally fund the continued clean up of a uranium-slag heap in Utah. Oh well, the large Mormon population there doesn't care if their kids come out with birth defects and die at a young age - do they??

 The Bush Regime took an anti-human rights stance in the U.S. and abroad, by treating basic human rights as an obstacle of setting up civic security. Who needs freedom anyway?

 Bush leaves abused and neglected children behind by cutting $15.7 million that was supposed to aid states in investigating their cases. As long as they're educated, who cares how they're treated, eh, Dumbya!?

 Bush used the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks on the U.S. to create the Department of Homeland Security. Ironically, Hitler also created such an office, the Reichshauptsicherheitamt, or "Main Office of Homeland Security," and look where he took Germany.

 True Americans, BEWARE!!! Bush lied to the American public and Congress about the Taliban's motives in the 9/11/01 attacks in order to gain approval of extremist foreign policies and shield their eyes from the true dangers of the "Patriot Act."

 Bush repealed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, while spending billions of tax dollars building a large national missile defense.

 Bush shows his true opinion on affirmative action, by appointing outspoken affirmative action opponent Kay Cole James to direct the Office of Personnel Management.

 Bush nominated a lawyer for a teen sex video distribution company, Harvey Pitts, to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. Isn't that an abomination, Dumbya?

 Bush and Cheney both refused to testify under oath - or by themselves - to the 9/11 Commission. What do you think they are trying to hide from the public?

 After screwing up that nation's economy to the point of a record high number of jobless Americans, Bush cut $200 million in funding to help retrain dislocated workers. Oh well, if they're jobless, they can't pay their inflated working-class taxes, now can they?

 Bush proposed a measure to use eminent domain to the government to seize private property for power lines.

 Bush took steps to abolish the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

 After the U.N. questioned Bush's "war on terrorism," the Bush Regime decided the nation should act with a small group of other nations stupid enough to believe the "weapons of mass destruction" fables.

 More judicial horror... Bush nominated the leading critic of the separation of church and state, Michael McConnell, to a federal judgeship.

 Bush's oil buddies celebrated when he nominated J. Steven Giles as Deputy Secretary of the Interior. Giles was an oil and coal lobbyist!

 After brother Jeb "guaranteed Florida" in the 2000 elections, thousands of eligible voters in the state were mysteriously turned away from the polls. Bush and co. denies this ever happened, takes the election, and screws the world...

 Bush cut $60 million from a Boy's and Girl's Clubs of America program for public housing.

 Undermining a Clinton-era agreement, Bush gave $95 million to North Korea for their nuclear programs and waived the part of the agreement that required inspections to ensure no weapons-grade plutonium was being hidden.

 Bush adds another passionate opponent of civil rights to his list by nominating Terrence Boyle to a federal judgeship.

 Looking for a little more waste in America? Try Bush proposing to ease environmental considerations for permits for refineries, nuclear plants, and hydroelectric dam construction. Bush nominated Linda Fisher - an executive for Monsanto - to the Environmental Protection Agency. Monsanto is one of the largest farming and pesticide biotechnology companies in the world.

 "There is no gap in gender pay," implies Bush Council of Economic Advisers appointee Diana Roth.

 Bush cut $700 million in capital funds for public housing repairs.

 Promises, promises... Or outright lies! Bush promised $15 billion in AIDS funding for Africa in his 2003 State of the Union Address, then "accidentally" left it out of the budget.

 Bush eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops.

 In a Supreme Court Case, Bush opposed affirmative action at Michigan State.

 Just because he can't read more than 5 words at a time, Bush is working to ensure you won't be able to - by cutting federal spending on public libraries by $39 million.

 Faith-based idiocy! Bush created $4 million in federal grant money for HIV and drug abuse prevention programs - but only for religious groups and non-secular equivalents.

 Eliminating workers' rights and environmental safety, Bush renegotiated a free trade agreement with Jordan.

 Big business buddies love this one: Bush proposed to reverse a federal regulation to protect 60 million acres of national forest from logging and road building.

 More Iran-Contra ties... Bush appointed unindicted high-level Iran-Contra figure, John Negroponte, as the United Nations Ambassador.

 Even more Iran-Contra ties... Bush appointed unindicted high-level Iran-Contra figure, Otto Reich, as the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs.

 In these scandalous times of war crimes committed by Americans with possible ties to the executive staff, it's not hard to figure out why Bush renounced U.S. support for an International Criminal Court and aggressively campaigned to exempt all American personnel from its jurisdiction. He threatened to pull American support from all U.N. peacekeeping operations unless he got his way...

 More reductions for the good of the corporations... Bush cut 28% of government funding for researching cleaner, more efficient automobiles. Too bad Bush isn't an endangered species - he might not have nominated an advocate for repealing the Endangered Species Act, Bennett Raley, as the Assistant Secretary for Water and Science.

 Bush ran from his duties, so he's not a veteran. That's probably why he cut the Veterans' Administration budget by $25 billion.

 Many of Bush's buddies own oil companies, so it's not at all shocking that he cut government funding to research renewable energy sources by 50%!

 Nuclear Bush undermined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ben Treaty by supporting testing of new nuclear weapons and refusing to rule out a nuclear first strike on non-nuclear nations.

 Bush doesn't like women, or so one can assume following his closure of the White House Office for Women's Health Initiative and Outreach.

 Who cares about the environment? Not Bush, he cut $500 million from the Environmental Protection Agency's budget.

 More hatred of women!? Bush suspended U.S. support for the U.N.'s family planning programs and stopped short of supporting the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

 How about all-out opposing the U.N.? Maybe Bush is just like his Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, John Bolton, who opposes nonproliferation treaties and the United Nations.

 Bush has refused to release federal funding designed to provide for stem cell research projects.

Thanks to Bush, federal employees can have Viagra but no contraceptives, due to his cut of a program that provided prescription contraceptive coverage.

 Create an international offensive against the spread of AIDS? Nah, Bush refused to participate and helped his buddies in the pharmaceutical business capitalize by increasing costs of life-saving medications.

 Bush suspended rules requiring rock miners to clean up sites on Western public lands. Gee, do you think your tax dollars will end up paying for the clean ups?

 A little controversy in the Bush Regime... Bush allowed Interior Secretary Gale Norton to auction oil and gas development tracts off the coast of eastern Florida. Which one(s) of Bush's oil buddies benefited from this!!??

 More cuts for the poor... Bush cut a federal program to provide childcare to low-income families transitioning from welfare to work. Anybody checked into the cost of childcare lately? Apparently, Bush likes to keep poor Americans poor.

 Bush's America will stay uniformed about potential consequences from chemical plant accidents, thanks to his cancellation of a proposal to increase the public's access to the information.

 Undermining world peace, Bush condoned the Israeli reoccupation of Palestinian territory and rejected the U.N. Security Council's resolutions that provide a framework for conflict resolution between the two. The resolutions have been supported by previous U.S. administrations.

 Bush's Solicitor General nominee, Ted Olsen, has lied repeatedly about his involvement in the "Arkansas Project," which was designed to "bring down" Bill Clinton.

 Bush compelled Interior Secretary Gale Norton to send letters to state officials soliciting suggestions for opening up national monuments for oil and gas drilling, coal mining, and foresting.

 Bush abolished rules mandating energy-saving regulations for central air conditioners and heat pumps. What was that about an energy crisis?

Bush cut the Community Oriented Policing Services program.

Oh, oil buddies! Bush wants to redraw the boundaries of national monuments to allow for oil and gas drilling "outside" of them.

 Bush further assaulted the AIDS epidemic by gutting the White House AIDS Office.

 More controversial nominations... Bush nominated David Lauriski as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health. Did we mention Lauriski used to be a mining company executive?

 Bush proposed $1.2 billion in funding to help find alternative renewable energy. The catch? The funding comes from selling leases in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge - for oil and gas drilling. Want to bet his oil buddies are getting a bargain!?

 Bush thinks the American Bar Association is "too liberal," so he will no longer seek their guidance or recommendations for federal judiciary appointments.

 Bush further attacks women - this time Asian women who were forced to work as sex slaves in Japan during WWII - by seeking the dismissal of a class-action lawsuit against Japan.

 Bush proposed a bill to prevent groups from suing to have an animal placed on the Endangered Species List. Again, too bad Bush isn't an endangered species.

 Convicted of murder? That's okay, you can get financial aid for college. However, if you've ever been convicted of a misdemeanor drug charge, Bush has made sure you will never get financial aid for college.

 Once upon a time there was a 2004 deadline for automakers to develop PROTOTYPE high mileage cars. Nevertheless, just like the June 30, 2004, Iraq deadline, Bush has pushed the prototype deadline up indefinitely. Maybe this one's because his oil buddies fear losing revenue if people actually get more than 30 or 40 MPG...

 Bush censored the environmental concerns found by scientists his administration hired - to make it look like global warming is not a major threat.

"The terrorists are coming, the terrorists are coming!" That's all that our Chicken-Little-In-Chief cares about. Therefore, Bush proposed eliminating a federal program to help communities prepare for natural disasters. The program had been developed and successfully used in Seattle. Never mind that! "The terrorists are coming, the terrorists are coming!"

 Bush just can't bring himself to help the poor... He reduced the Low Income Home Assistance Program, which is designed to help individuals in need of assistance paying energy bills, by 40%.

 Bush blocked efforts to create international regulations to enforce fair labor, consumer rights, and environmental protections. He is still pursuing a global economic agenda to further the spread of transnational corporations though.

 Bush 2000 campaign pledge: To invest $100 million in rain forest conservation. This was a promise the "compassionate conservative" didn't keep. More like "conservatively compassionate," if you ask us!

 Bush has health insurance buddies too! Or so it seems, after he slashed the Community Access Program by 86% for public hospitals, clinics, and providers of care for people without insurance.

 Another broken promise... Bush failed to increase public education funding and failed to fund the so-called "No Child Left Behind Act." It seems every child gets left behind, except those whose rich mommies and daddies send them to private or boarding schools.

 Bush 2000 campaign pledge: To regulate carbon dioxide emissions. He didn't, decided it would be "too costly." This from the guy who has created the largest deficit in history

! "We the People" used to be an educational program to teach about the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and citizenship, in schools. Bush eliminated its funding. Oh well, since he's tromping on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and can take away anyone's citizenship without due process, I guess it's not important for American children to learn about such things.

 Bush hates fish too! He proposed to eliminate marine protections for the Channel Islands and the coral reefs of northwest Hawaii.

 Reading is (no longer) Fundamental, or at least Bush thinks so. He proposed to eliminate the RIF program, which provides free books for poor children. Maybe he's afraid they will learn to read more than 5 words at a time.

 Who says Bush isn't anti-American? He announced plans to open up Montana's Lewis and Clark National Forest to - you guessed it - his oil company buddies for drilling.

 Benefiting big business even more... Bush repealed workplace ergonomic rules designed to improve worker health and safety. Ironically, now big businesses won't have to pay for the long-term side-effects of ergonomic injuries.

Bush eliminated the Wetland Reserve Program. It was designed to encourage and reward farmers for maintaining a wetlands habitat on their property.

 A little arsenic in your water? Bush repealed a set of Clinton-era regulations to reduce the maximum allowable level of arsenic in drinking water.

 The Iran-Contra and helping daddy... Bush sealed documents from the Reagan and Bush, Sr. administrations that would have further revealed illegal dealings. Hmm... Is this paying daddy back for the 2000 election??

 More assaults on the poor and middle-class... Bush signed a bill to make filing for bankruptcy even harder for members of the "lower-classes." No mention of his rich buddies though. So that's why they get the biggest tax breaks!

 Bush wants to eliminate minimum wage, thus the enforcement thereof. Anyone for legalizing American sweat-shops??

Bush finally realized the giant tax cuts for the rich had an effect on the economy. What does he want to do about it? He wants to take away benefits from children and the elderly to compensate.

 There used to be rules against the government granting contracts to companies that violated workplace safety, environmental, and other federal laws. Not anymore! Bush wiped his butt with them and flushed them down the toilet.

  Bush sure does talk big Spanish to Hispanic voters. Just don't let them know he was behind blocking government rules to require federal agencies to offer bilingual assistance to non-English-speaking individuals.

 He stole another election. He cannot learn from his mistakes. Hopefully he won't last another 4 years (like, um, maybe Congress will come to its senses and impeach him...)