Avatar: Autostrada Centura Bucureşti. RTs, favs, links, tweets ≠ endorsements. All views welcome, but querulous time-wasters may be blocked.
Victoria, British Columbia
Joined June 2009
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In some ways we *are* better, in some ways worse than the US, and we are certainly weaker. But mostly, we're Canadian and want to stay that way. We want to do our own thing in the northern half of this continent. We did that well for many decades & need to get back on track.
1/n
When my mum was alive, grandchildren would bring any serious boyfriend/girlfriend to the island for grandmotherly approval.
You either like long codas of psychedelic noodling, or you don't. I do. It relates to the album's Laurel Canyon theme (very Neil Young, Down by the River/Cinnamon Girl). And maybe to the Eden/Garden imagery in the T. S. Eliot interlude from Honeymoon.
But MAC is her best song.
ΧΡΙΣΤΌΦΟΡΟΣ bɝːd retweeted
R.I.P. Patrick Stewart, died yesterday aged 86.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to:
Johns Hopkins Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Fund
alzresearch.org/giving/
Alzheimer’s Foundation of America Caregiver Resources
alzfdn.org/donate/
Photo Credit: Tommy Garcia
That was just ignorance. "This brave Ukrainian fought against the Russians in the 1940s."
"Hmm... who else fought against the Russians in the 1940s?"
On the other hand, if you'd been a Ukrainian in the 1940s, who would you have fought for? Hitler, or Stalin? Not an easy choice.
You're supposed to side with the judges who pursue the principle of impartial justice, if you understand what that is.
...Territories. But that cynical status quo can only last as long as cynical Arab governments remain in power, which is not for ever.
A genuine solution to the Palestinian problem—eg, a two-state soution—is the solution. It's not a question of being nice, but of being realistic.
...states that are invested in peace with Israel. But his Machiavellian tendencies lead him to think that he can sideline the Palestinian question with empty promises and prevarications while continuing to support stealth annexation (and possibly worse) in the Occupied...
...Minister, said in 1976:
“the Arab states can permit themselves a series of military defeats while Israel cannot afford to lose a single war.”
Netanyahu is not a stupid man, and IMO he was on the right track with Abraham Accords: establish a regional bloc of moderate Arab...
In which of those categories do you place me? Regardless, I think you're wrong.
The Netanyahu strategy faces Israel with an endless series of wars, and eventually—decades, maybe a century from now—they will suffer a devastating defeat. As Yigal Allon, the Israeli Foreign...
IMO, Netanyahu and his allies are leading Israel down a path that would end in its destruction, possibly within the lifetimes of some who are alive today.
That's one of the reasons I don't support him.
ΧΡΙΣΤΌΦΟΡΟΣ bɝːd retweeted
Why is there bias against describing Iraq as a democracy in the Middle East? It's ok to say Israel and Iraq are both democracies in the Middle East.
Iraq has elections that Freedom House says correctly are "regular, competitive elections, and the country’s various partisan, religious, and ethnic groups generally enjoy representation in the political system."
The system has some flaws "democratic governance is impeded in practice by corruption and security threats. In the Kurdistan region, democratic institutions lack the strength to contain the influence of long-standing power brokers. Increasingly, Iran has been able to influence politics in Baghdad. Civil liberties are generally respected in Iraqi law, but the state has limited capacity to prevent and punish violations."
I'm always fascinated by the number of people who don't know Iraq is a democracy with complex and robust elections. It's not perfect. But that's ok. The goal of democracy is to improve. It's never perfect.
ΧΡΙΣΤΌΦΟΡΟΣ bɝːd retweeted
The tragedy of how the PA stopped having elections is massive in retrospect. It's so complicated too, because of the rise of Hamas and the 2006 Palestinian legislative election; and then the Hamas coup in Gaza.
However...the fact that there were the 1996 Palestinian general elections and then the 2005 presidential election and then the 2006 legislative elections and then nothing else basically (limited municipal ones)...
When one thinks about this...the 1990s was the post-Cold War and there was a huge democratization wave sweeping the world...Eastern Europe, Russia, South Africa, the N. Ireland agreement...Africa, South America, Asia...so many positive developments...and Oslo and the idea of democracy for the Palestinians was in line with this vision.
Then comes the Second Intifada...
But then there is the 2005-2006 elections which come in the context of the post-2003 invasion of Iraq and the US push for democracy in the region...let's recall the Iraqi Constitution is drafted, etc. But the elections aid Hamas and this sets off alarm bells...Dayton's mission of the USSC grows...etc.
Then fast forward to the Arab Spring...which truly leads to policy shift against more popular risings and elections...countries like Egypt, for instance, see the MB win...and then the 2013 counter to it. The rise of ISIS in 2013-2014 in Syria-Iraq.
So...the PA is affected by this too. And elections are postponed forever.
It's all a tragedy in retrospect and it should be understood as such; it was a product of its time as well, the 1990s to early 2000s when the world order was changing and there was hope>
And that's mostly all gone now as the world order shifts rapidly in another direction.
But in darkness, there can always be light.
