Netanyu Taunts Abbas, Russia Stabs Iran In Back, Tancredo Runs, Camel's Milk Is Good

Paul Krugman
EJ Dionne Jr

"It has always been funny, in a gallows humor sort of way, to watch conservatives who laud the limitless power and flexibility of markets turn around and insist that the economy would collapse if we were to put a price on carbon." - Paul Krugman

"If Obama hates the current media climate, he should stop overreacting to it. And the mainstream media should stop being afraid of insisting on the difference between news and propaganda." - EJ Dionne Jr

"So Jeb Bush is running for president. I don't know about the rest of the country, but thank God, ladies and gentlemen, the comedy recession is over!" — David Letterman

As usual, progress on talks for a Palestinian state have bogged down, letting people's cynicism take over. A simpler solution that is making rounds, proposed by former defense minister Moshe Arens, is for Israel to annex the West Bank and grant citizenship to everyone living there, and a recent poll shows that a majority of Palestinians are in favor: "What the poll indicates is that a slim majority of Palestinians in the occupied territories have given up on the idea of two states -- Israel and Palestine -- living side by side in peace and security. Many now prefer the one-state solution, which means Israel would incorporate the remaining parts of historic Palestine, excluding the Gaza Strip, which Arens seems to have ignored.


However, the Palestinians’ reasoning for their decision is totally different from that of Arens, a right-wing Israeli politician. While Arens dismisses the general Israeli concern that granting West Bank Palestinians Israeli citizenship would change the demographic and Jewish structure of Israel, Palestinians believe they would eventually become a majority in Israel in light of their higher birth rate, which means they could eventually take control through democratic and peaceful means." Debate has been sparked over what Israelis want as a Jewish nation.

As for direct talks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that they could be sitting down tomorrow if Mahmoud Abbas would agree to it. Abbas has been whining that if he negotiates without getting his preconditions, then he will be committing political suicide. So now the talks are failing because of the shallowness and vanity of one old man, who canceled elections for fear that he would be voted out of office... But wait! Mere hours after Netanyahu made this taunt, Abbas has come back swinging, saying that yes, he is ready for direct talks once again, just like all of the other times there were direct talks and nothing was accomplished... So, place your bets, ladies and gentlemen, will these two gonifs actually make nice and accomplish anything, or will Abbas get new orders from the arab League meeting this Friday, or will there be a bunch of new housing construction by Israeli settlers as an in-your-face snub at any kind of negotiated peace. We'll find out on the next installment of "As The World Squirms"...


In a total turnaround, right after the EU announced their sanctions against Iran, which were tougher than the US's and involved all 27 countries, Iran announce that it would be glad to sit down immediately to talk about its nuclear program and reconsider the fuel swap deal. Proving that the previous fuel swap deal with Turkey and Brazil was just a bogus ruse. The foreign ministers of Turkey, Brazil, and Iran are meeting today to discuss strategy. So, perhaps the idea of hitting Iran's leaders in their pocketbooks, freezing their assets and cutting off future lucrative deals, seems to have worked. At least for this week...

But President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad couldn't let an opportunity for a jibe to pass. He accused Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev of stabbing Iran in the back. The Russian foreing ministry didn't take kindly, and, according to the Jerusalem Post: "Russia turned on Iran, accusing it of "fruitless and irresponsible rhetoric" and adding its voice to a diplomatic assault Monday which included unilateral sanctions from both the EU and Canada, as well as warnings from Iran's opposition party that Ahmadinejad's regime could suffer the same fate as the deposed Shah... The Russian Foreign Ministry suggested "Iran's leaders take concrete and constructive steps to work the situation out." Putin's response was to go out into a field and take his shirt off for more photographs... Germany has accepted the political asylum of 50 Iranian dissidents, who fled after things got brutal in the repression of the Green revolution...

Meanwhile, the damned NY Times devoted five full pages to parts of the Afghan war diary published in wikileaks. I haven't read them yet, but of course the view of a war is vastly different seen through a regular soldier's eyes than when it is seen by a general, or a reporter, or a Congressman. Your relationships are more solid, and affect you longer than someone who is just passing through for a short time. So, nothing new is being revealed, just putting a more human face to the experience that is war... As to the news that elements of the Pakistani Intelligence Service is helping the Taliban, well, duh, they have been doing that since the Taliban was first created and supported by countries like the US. There are also elements who support what the US is trying to accomplish, and there are others who try to juggle all parties, depending on who is paying the most at the time...

Yum, Yum, get ready to buy the next chocolate sensation: Camel's Milk Chocolate. The ruler of Dubai has established al-Nessma, a take on Nestle, which is a company that makes chocolate from camel's milk. It is currently sold as a luxury item to private airlines in the Middle East, but they want to take the marketing to Europe and America: "The Gulf is the best place to launch camel milk chocolate since it is home to the best camel breeds and camel milk is part of its diet due to its numerous benefits, said Martin Van Almsick, al-Nessma general manager and former manager of the chocolate museum in Cologne, Germany. "Camel milk is healthier than cow milk," he told Al Arabiya. "It contains five times more vitamin C, less fat, less lactose and more insulin. This makes it perfect for people with diabetes and lactose intolerance." Now if they made it without sugar a diabetic like myself could eat it. Otherwise, I'll just have to watch your reaction as you eat it in front of me, trusting soul that you are...

"We aim to be the Godiva of the Middle East."

Finally, as expected, our own homegrown immigrant hater, Tom Tancredo announced that he is running for governor of Colorado, as an independent. Yep, got into a shouting match with the head of the state GOP, who said that Tom's vain actions would hand the governorship to the Democrats. That would be Denver's mayor, John Hickenlooper. Ever the predator, Tom sees that Scott McInnis has shot himself in the foot and no longer is seen as honest or reliable, so why not split the Party even more? I sent my ballot back in for the primary, and left the spots blank for both governor and senator, as these candidates are self-destructing in front of the cameras and making the dumbest commercials. After Carly Fiorino's demon sheep, of course. Ken Buck, the candidate for state senator, has made the remarks that you should vote for him because he doesn't wear high heels, he wears boots that have real bullshit on them... and can  someone keep those dumbass birthers away from him whenever there's a camera around? Both incidents made into commercials by his opponent in the Republican Party...  Ken shows that he is a John Wayne Man, or tries to speak like one, not the DA that he really is... Next thing you know they will have been abducted by aliens, made to form crop circles, and mutilate cattle in the worst way on John and Ken Salazar's farms...