During his 25 minutes Saturday, Ahmadinejad delivered what began as a sermon praising the prophets of Islam, Christianity and Judaism and then descended into anti-American vitriol, conspiracy theories and threats.
He expressed doubt that the deadly attacks against the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, were really carried out by terrorists. He said Americans had brought the devastation of Hurricane Katrina upon themselves and that the U.S. military was purposely poisoning its own troops in Iraq.
There were quotes from the Koran, angry finger pointing and attacks on Israel interlaced with talk of justice and tranquility. There was a staunch defense of Iran's right to peaceful nuclear energy, and to enrich uranium to fuel that program. There were no new proposals and little detail about old ones that were reoffered.
Read all about it.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Monday, September 12, 2005
9-11 Memorials
Protesters marched through the canyons of Midtown, shoveling leaflets at bewildered shoppers as they chanted things like "Figure it out. It's not hard. Nine-11 was an inside job!" and even "Remember New Orleans!"—as if anyone could forget. They passed by the headquarters of FOX, NBC, Time Warner, and CNN, pausing to shout at the media for ignoring them as a few police officers looked on.
The police seemed virtually nonexistent as Choking Victims' myriad fans sang along to lyrics like "Kill the cops," "Fuck America," and "Fuck world trade."
Onstage, lead singer "Stza Crack" preached more conspiracies. "George Bush's brother Marvin Bush was head of security at the World Trade Center up until 9-11, and they were doing nefarious things," Crack told his drunken fans. "They wanted another Pearl Harbor to install the Patriot Act and take us to war. Don't listen to the media; the media is there for maximum security—to tell you lies!"
As the band broke into their hit anthem of alienation, "Born to Die," a young punk in bleached hair and mod sunglasses dashed to the mike and shouted: "Kill George Bush! Or we're all going to die!"
Unlike at Ground Zero, the folks here seemed not to mind such giddy provocation. Josh Copeland, a 21-year-old Rutgers student sporting a heavy chain and padlock around his neck, said he didn't buy the conspiracy angles voiced onstage but supported more dissent about the "social and economic" causes of 9-11. "This is really for the sake of acting out. You see there's a huge turnout for this. People are really very angry and they don't know what to do. Protest is losing its power."
Do I need to comment on this crap?
The police seemed virtually nonexistent as Choking Victims' myriad fans sang along to lyrics like "Kill the cops," "Fuck America," and "Fuck world trade."
Onstage, lead singer "Stza Crack" preached more conspiracies. "George Bush's brother Marvin Bush was head of security at the World Trade Center up until 9-11, and they were doing nefarious things," Crack told his drunken fans. "They wanted another Pearl Harbor to install the Patriot Act and take us to war. Don't listen to the media; the media is there for maximum security—to tell you lies!"
As the band broke into their hit anthem of alienation, "Born to Die," a young punk in bleached hair and mod sunglasses dashed to the mike and shouted: "Kill George Bush! Or we're all going to die!"
Unlike at Ground Zero, the folks here seemed not to mind such giddy provocation. Josh Copeland, a 21-year-old Rutgers student sporting a heavy chain and padlock around his neck, said he didn't buy the conspiracy angles voiced onstage but supported more dissent about the "social and economic" causes of 9-11. "This is really for the sake of acting out. You see there's a huge turnout for this. People are really very angry and they don't know what to do. Protest is losing its power."
Do I need to comment on this crap?
AQ Khan's Latest
Here's an interesting set of stories to appear on the same day. In the first story, Khan is trailed by US intelligence.
In a major disclosure, former Dutch Premier Ruud Lubbers has said the Netherlands government in 1975 and in 1986 had refrained from acting against disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadir Khan following requests from the US Central Intelligence Agency, media reports said.
And on the same day, another report in an unrelated publication says that his court papers have now disappeared and our intelligence services are suspected (but when are they not? If it rains in Saudi, the CIA did it).
A court in Amsterdam which sentenced Pakistan's father of nuclear programme DR AQ Khan to four years in prison in 1983, has lost Dr Khan's legal files. The court's vice-president suspects US intelligence agency CIA to be behind the documents disappearance.
In a major disclosure, former Dutch Premier Ruud Lubbers has said the Netherlands government in 1975 and in 1986 had refrained from acting against disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadir Khan following requests from the US Central Intelligence Agency, media reports said.
And on the same day, another report in an unrelated publication says that his court papers have now disappeared and our intelligence services are suspected (but when are they not? If it rains in Saudi, the CIA did it).
A court in Amsterdam which sentenced Pakistan's father of nuclear programme DR AQ Khan to four years in prison in 1983, has lost Dr Khan's legal files. The court's vice-president suspects US intelligence agency CIA to be behind the documents disappearance.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Rebuilding New Orleans
David Brooks writes in today's NYT about rebuilding New Orleans. His suggestions are practical and should be implementable without too much Sturm und Drang. Read it here.
The first rule of the rebuilding effort should be: Nothing Like Before. Most of the ambitious and organized people abandoned the inner-city areas of New Orleans long ago, leaving neighborhoods where roughly three-quarters of the people were poor.
...the second rule of rebuilding should be: Culturally Integrate. Culturally Integrate. Culturally Integrate. The only chance we have to break the cycle of poverty is to integrate people who lack middle-class skills into neighborhoods with people who possess these skills and who insist on certain standards of behavior.
The first rule of the rebuilding effort should be: Nothing Like Before. Most of the ambitious and organized people abandoned the inner-city areas of New Orleans long ago, leaving neighborhoods where roughly three-quarters of the people were poor.
...the second rule of rebuilding should be: Culturally Integrate. Culturally Integrate. Culturally Integrate. The only chance we have to break the cycle of poverty is to integrate people who lack middle-class skills into neighborhoods with people who possess these skills and who insist on certain standards of behavior.
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