Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Wednesday Updates on Gaza, Mexico, and Sarah Palin



Maureen Dowd
Dana Milbank


The links above are to two very clever articles. I thought about having more serious links, but sometimes the insights that are provided through humor are priceless. I hope that I am growing each day that I write this blog, I no longer try too hard to be funny in front of my family, and I'm calmer when I get caught in arguments with total strangers in public.

The Christian Science Monitor has an article on Israel blockading ships going to Gaza, after a small ferry boat filled with pro-Gaza activists were intercepted by the Israeli Navy...: "The naval blockade – part of a wider Israeli effort to seal off the tiny coastal strip controlled by the Islamist militant group Hamas – not only prevents such shipments, it is also devastating a key Gazan industry and source of food: fishing.

Citing security concerns and fears of arms smuggling, Israel has progressively tightened the blockade over the past 15 years. Once a thriving enterprise, Gaza's fishing industry is now on the verge of collapse. Fishermen are cut off from the heavily populated shoals, and have seen total revenue drop by half in less than a decade."
Every bit of rebuilding this place will have to be torn from the right wing crowd in Israel, who see the native Palestinians as little more than animals, and therefore have no rights. Despite their bluster, this last military incursion sobered up Hamas, and there are now responsible representatives trying to work out peace agreements. It's something I never thought I'd see, may both sides have the courage and patience to create something that will last and benefit everyone...

Here is an update on our sending troops to the Mexican border: "There is little doubt that Washington has to take a tough stance on Mexico. Since 2006, nearly 11,000 people have died in Mexico in drug-related violence, the latest 12 people killed in a shootout this week. The violence is creeping northward, prompting the governors of four states – Texas, Arizona, California, and New Mexico – to ask for help.

But many are questioning the wisdom of the sending the National Guard, saying it risks further involving the military in domestic security, stretching the military too thin, and inflaming an already caustic national debate on immigration."
They are still fighting over who has jurisdiction, let's put Robert Gates and Janet Napolitano in the MMA octagon, oil them up, and televise it on CSPAN. I say this because I worry about their ratings and I care... Actually, it looks like the Border Patrol will soon be asking for volunteers within its own ranks for extra duty...

Sweden is beginning its turn as head of the European Union, which is turning out to be more of a curse than a blessing. UPI reports: "Sweden began its six-month presidency of the European Union Wednesday in the midst of a global economic crisis and difficult institutional problems.
Observers say it will take great diplomacy by the Swedes to keep member states focused on dealing with the issues of the day such as climate change and the global recession, the EUobserver reports.

At the top of the list is Ireland's October referendum on the Lisbon Treaty that opinion polls suggest will pass this time around. In addition to known problems, observers point out most EU presidencies find themselves forced to deal with unplanned events such as the Russian-Georgian war last fall or the energy crisis at the beginning of this year.

"I recently read that we are about to face a water crisis too and I thought, why not -- let's add that one to the list as well," said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, a few weeks before beginning the job." And he's right, there will soon be global problems over water rights, it may become the big story during the coming year. When we begin fighting wars over such basic natural resources, our way of civilization will begin devolving,.. Here in the western states, many aquifer rights are being bought out by foreign companies like Nestle.

Wednesday seems like a slow news day, I guess we'll have to wait until Obama goes to Russia for the confrontational lovefest to begin. In the meantime, Politico has a lengthy piece on the GOP's reaction to a story on Sarah Palin in the current Vanity Fair: "A hard-hitting piece on Sarah Palin in the new Vanity Fair has touched off a blistering exchange of insults among high-profile Republicans over last year’s GOP ticket – tearing open fresh wounds about leaks surrounding Palin and revealing for the first time some of the internal wars that paralyzed the campaign in its final days.

Rival factions close to the McCain campaign have been feuding since last fall over Palin, usually waging the battle in the shadows with anonymous quotes. Now, however, some of the most well-known names in Republican politics are going on-the-record with personal attacks and blame-casting." I haven't read the magazine yet, so I can't comment on it, but it has stirred up and amazing amount of name calling and back-biting. Well, biting any part of the body that seems vulnerable... Of course, any time that William Kristol gets involved, you can discount whatever he says with a grain of salt, the man has been wrong on every major policy issue for over the last 20 years...

late night Sarah Palin jokes:

"Well, according to a new post-election survey, people want Sarah Palin to run for president in 2012. It says she's been getting thousands of calls from people pleading with her to run, all Democrats." --Jay Leno

"Of course, everybody now is speculating what the future of the GOP will be. GOP now stands for, of course, 'Ganging up on Palin.'" --Jay Leno

"Sarah Palin thinks the alphabet has 22 letters. She's so dumb she thinks the capital of China is Chinatown. Sarah Palin is so dumb, she thinks billboards are postcards from giants. The governor of Alaska is so dumb, she thinks soy milk is Spanish for 'I am milk.'" --"Daily Show" correspondent Wyatt Cenac

"Of course, a lot of famous sound bites will be remembered for this campaign. There were some good ones. Barack Obama saying, what was his one? Oh, 'We are the change that we seek.' John McCain saying, 'I would rather lose an election than lose a war.' Sarah Palin saying, 'Do you have this in size 6?'" --Jay Leno

"President-elect Barack Obama spent the day thanking the people who helped him win the election. Yeah, and actually, Obama's first phone call was to Sarah Palin. He sent her flowers." --Conan O'Brien

"Sources from the McCain campaign are starting to talk. And they said today that when they were prepping Sarah Palin for the debates, they found out that she thought Africa was a country, not a continent. Now, to be fair to Sarah Palin, it is hard to see Africa from Alaska." --Conan O'Brien

"How about Sarah Palin, ladies and gentlemen. Right now on her way back to Alaska. And I'm thinking oh, I wouldn't want to be a moose now. But on the bright side, at least now Tina Fey can spend Saturdays with her family again, so that's a good deal." --David Letterman

"People all over the world are celebrating Barack Obama's victory. In fact, Sarah Palin watched the Russians celebrating from her house." --David Letterman

"You know who is really, really happy that John McCain did not win last night? The boyfriend of Sarah Palin's daughter. He doesn't have to get married now. 'Whew, thank God!'" --Jay Leno

"Actually, Sarah Palin was pretty upset last night. Did you see her? Yeah, well, she wasn't upset because she lost. Now she's got to give all of her clothes back." --Jay Leno

"A lot of speculation about Sarah Palin's future, but last night, she denied rumors that she's getting ready to run for president in 2012. Palin said, 'That's a long time away. I'll be a great-grandmother by then.'" --Conan O'Brien

"Sarah Palin made three campaign stops today: Saks, Nieman Marcus and Bloomingdales." --Jay Leno

"I guess there seems to be some trouble brewing between Sarah Palin and John McCain. McCain aides say that Sarah Palin is 'going rogue' and not taking advice or notes from the McCain campaign. They say it is hard to keep her from going off script and making statements that hurt the campaign. It's gotten so bad, her Secret Service codename is now 'Joe Biden.'" --Jay Leno

"Here's how it works. Election is Tuesday. And then Wednesday is the first day of Sarah Palin's 2012 campaign." --David Letterman

"You know what? This always happens in politics. Sarah Palin, when she gets on the ticket, everybody is going, whoa, how about this? Come on. Look out. Here we go. We got us something here, you know. Now everything has turned around. McCain staffers are saying Sarah Palin has turned into a diva and is making diva demands. Here's what they're talking about. A couple of days ago, Lenscrafters had to stay open after hours so Sarah could shop alone. Today, she hit a speech writer with her cell phone." --David Letterman

"According to expense reports, Sarah Palin charged the state of Alaska over $21,000 for her children to travel with her on official business. In fairness to Gov. Palin, when she leaves them home alone they get pregnant." --Seth Meyers

"Alaska's largest newspaper has endorsed Barack Obama despite the fact that their governor is Sarah Palin. Luckily for Palin, it's one of the 500 newspapers she doesn't read." --Conan O'Brien

"Sarah Palin is taking heat because the Republican National Committee has so far spent $150,000 on wardrobe for her and her family. She spent $50,000 at Saks Fifth Avenue, $75,000 at Neiman Marcus and about $5,000 on hair and makeup. Hey, representing small town, common-folk hockey moms isn't cheap, folks." --Jimmy Kimmel

"It turns out the highest paid person in the McCain campaign, not the campaign manager, not the pollsters -- Palin's makeup artist. I'm not kidding. She flies to every city where Palin appears. And McCain, he just gets the local gal who does the funeral home. It's not as bad as it sounds. The makeup girl is also Palin's top foreign policy adviser." --Bill Maher

"Sarah Palin was asked a question by a third grader and she got it wrong. She apparently still does not know what the vice president does ... She says he or she runs the Senate. No, not in this country. You know I would never accuse George Bush of being a bright man, but when he was elected, at least he knew which building to show up to." --Bill Maher



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