Slashdot Mirror
Iran Cracks Down on Bloggers
Wired News is reporting that dozens of Iranian Bloggers have been met with harassment by the government and some have even been arrested for voicing dissenting views in recent history. The article takes a look at some of the bloggers who are fighting for their rights and how. From the article: "The Iranian blogging community, known as Weblogistan, is relatively new. It sprang to life in 2001 after hard-liners -- fighting back against a reformist president -- shut down more than 100 newspapers and magazines, and detained writers. At the time, Derakhshan posted instructions on the internet in Farsi on how to set up a weblog."
Iran is an example of how democracy and fascism are often compatible.
For Freedom, Democracy and JP Morgan and the Rothschilds. We have the freedom to blog without government interference in the land of Freedom, the Iranians deserve more than that. I say we aerial bomb them. 3 years from now they'll thank us for allowing them to blog for Freedom.
I for one would like to welcome our 2 year old audience, it is nice that children are taking an interesting in day to day events, even if they do have potty mouth!
GeekServ Unix Consulting Services (http://www.geekserv.com)
The cynic in me says that this story is a careful plant by the Bush Administration to get the Internets to support the upcoming invasion of Iran. Not, you understand, that this makes the story any less deserving of outrage--but you have to wonder about the timing.
Has anyone started up an adopt-an-Iranian-blog project, like the one that was done for the Chinese?
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
The Iranian blogging community, known as Weblogistan, is relatively new.
I call SHENNANIGANS!
Seriously, is there some sort of competition between bloggers to see who can come up with the latest "5 seconds of fame" painful, buzzwordy neologism? I want to know, so that I can find the organization responsible for keeping score and bomb them.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
...free and tolerant Islamic society we hear so much about!
(All religions are intolerant of each other, because each religion defines a mutually-exclusive lock on a God they believe exists (or in atheism's case, doesn't exist). Each religion fights over that lock, and therein lies the religious conflict. And all this fighting assumes their God -- or any god -- actually even exists; over 2000 years of non-proval of a god's existence sure paves the way towards a high probability that he/she/it does not.)
Is Capitalism Good for the Poor?
Are you referring to neoblogisms?
Boingboing has a guide to evading cesonsorware
Should be useful to Iranians, as the US firm Secure Computing is the company censoring Iran.
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
I got my mail stolen, I am attacked using microwave weapons, psycotronic weapons and other advanced weapons and after 3 months of "Secret" police torture the army joined in and I am now also attacked regularly by directed energy weapons on aircraft.
So, what are the other effects of these energy and "psycotronic" weapons other than hallucinations and paranoia?
I hear that the private sector sells medicines that can render the body immune to such weaponry. You should look up SSRIs sometime.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
It's sure too bad we didn't give them control of the Internet, huh?
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
You stole my comment!
It is funny though, for a company that says don't be evil, they certainly like to support evil empires.
You say you want a revolution....
"The article takes a look at some of the bloggers who are fighting for their rights and how."
:D
Now, what exactly are those rights? I believe the only right you have in a state which is currently under the rule of Sharia ("Islamic law") is the right to remain *OBEDIENT* at all times.
This whole blogging business doesn't seem very obedient to me... so exactly what rights are they fighting for? A change of religion?
-pug
SSRIs are a class of antidepressants. He would want to look into psychotropic medication.
You say you want a revolution....
weblogistan?! Who comes up with this crap? And why is it perpetuated?
The masses are the crack whores of religion.
Relativism doesn't cut it here. John Paul II and Benedict have been very concilliatory to Jews. Compare that to Islam! Islam's relationship with other faiths is absolutely abysmal.
an ill wind that blows no good
These people would be helped by a project like Tor. http://tor.eff.org/
While I'm sure if there was money, Google would censor, I'm not sure there's enough profit in Iran to bother. (they're bowing down for China in return for access to a potentially huge market)
Its another American company that's profiting (illegally) from denying Iranians uncensored net access.
There's reports on the net that Adult diaper loving Secure Computing did not sell the software to Iranian ISPs, but given the actions of other US companies when faced with trade restrictions, I have trouble believing them.
My pics.
You guys are going to have to start killing those mullahs running things there. I recommend you start texting each other to get flash mobs at all the major TV and radio staions, and another huge mob wherever those mullahs meet. Rush the mullahs and stone them. You know it has to be done if things are going to change.
Good luck. If you succeed, the French will finish up that nuclear power plant. Count on it.
The latest Slashdot meme.
FIRE!!!!
-Eric
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
What can those of us that are outside [overtly] restrictive regimes (such as Iran, China and Saudi Arabia) do to help ordinary 'net users there express their experiences and opinions to the outside world?
well just because companies such as google are forced by local law doesn't mean you have to follow suit, i stumbled across anonet who are forming an underground network. the link actually came from a previous post on slashdot: http://anonetnfo.brinkster.net.nyud.net:8090/ its an intresting read but real worth the sharp learning curve, and even those hidden techies can learn somthing new!
plain old text
While the Shah and the US had some agreement (such as the idea that keeping left-wing fascism (i.e. socialism) and Islamic fascism out of Iran was a good idea), he wasn't the US's puppet. He tended to jerk the US around more than the US jerked his strings. Regardless, a very large and growing number of Iranians remember his rule as being very enlightened compared to the Islamic fascism which eventually took over.
You win today's "Baseless speculation" jackpot on slashdot! Your prize is a used Ouija board. You may also receive a job offer from Macrumors, they need help coming up with that sort of speculation. You need to learn how to speculate authoritatively though, and cite mysterious sources.
Try it this way:
See, it's much better when you do it that way!
. . . who are persecuted by their totalitarian government for exercising their natural rights than for the false bravado and excessive hubris of our own "dissidents."
What?
Isn't that right between Kerplackistan and Durkadurkastan?
Proud member of the American Non Sequitur Society. We might not make much sense, but boy do we love pizza!
that masquerades as a democracy. Democracy and Fascism are not compatible. One requires much personal freedom and choice and the other requires turning over control of much of society to the government and its leaders. Now a theocracy and fascism can be very compatible as both can revolve around a very strong and charismatic leader.
Iran calls itself a democracy but its obviously not. Yes the people get to vote on leaders but who can run isn't exactly open to public choice. Where is the democracy when the people you can choose to vote for are no one you would choose? Iran, as many countries of this type (dictatorships, theorcracies, etc) love to represent themselves to the world in terms that boast about freedom while at the same time providing none of it to their citizens.
Look at it this way, if you have to put the label in your name your probably not adhereing to that label's intent. A long time ago those lables meant something but today they are just words on paper (example : Islamic Republic of Iran )
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
"I got my mail stolen, I am attacked using microwave weapons, psycotronic weapons and other advanced weapons and after 3 months of "Secret" police torture the army joined in and I am now also attacked regularly by directed energy weapons on aircraft."
:s
all mail is now email, and the aircraft you talk about are called satellites.. dont worry, they wont hurt you unless you subscribe
which is totally what she said
Obligatory list of persian blogs
Wiki article
A few that I personally like.
Political blogs:
Brooding Persian
Iranian Truth
Eyeranian
Funny
Shirin
Negar
Lost in Texas
Ok fine this is mine sometimes I think I am funny
And a note on the numbers, I have no clue how they came up with that but I have a hard time believing any of it. Blogsbyiranians list any blog that Hossein comes across and it has a list of 100-200. My personal opinion is that there are about 5000 active persian blogs. Oh and cause I know someone will ask for it. some iranian porn
Vidi, vici, veni. (I saw, I conquered, I came)
Faith Freedom site of Ali Sina
TheReligionOfPeace
EuroJihad (in polish)
Cox & Forkum (funny drawings)
JihadWatch
PravdaOIslamu (in czech)
Saudi blogger
Egyptian blogger
Hizb-ut-Tahrir Islamic site
I just went to the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam and the strongest things that stood out are:
- The first freedom to go for anyone before total authoritarian dictatorship is the freedom of speech.
- Repressing government are usually very very afraid of the spoken word.
- Anne Frank's diary and history is one of the strongest evidences of the Nazi oppression and attempt to bring certain races to extinction.
Look at the Mohamed drawings issue. The extremists didn't really care about depictions of Mohamed. What their problem with those depictions is, is the freedom of speech. They are afraid they'll no longer be able to brainwash free people into stupid theocratic thinking. They are afraid that they will no longer be able to engage humans into blowing themselves up in order to fulfill a focus group god'$ prophecies.
Makes me puke that we don't even want to keep the freedom of speech around in the US but it makes sense why it had to be legislated. Everyone who tries to control someone will attempt to take that freedom of speech away.
I have always wondered about this.
To me there is a world of difference between free speech (free expression of ideas) and speech which is primarily intended to cause actual damage.
FIRE! (in a crowded theatre) is a common counter-example to those who claim that speech should be free, but to me that seems like comparing apples and pears. You might as well say that speech shouldn't be free because someone might lie and get you accused of a serious crime.
I strongly support an absolute freedom to present unpopular ideas (Blacks are intellectually inferior, Hitler was right?), or the use of 'banned words' (nigger, bum, tit, wank?), but I can't see that I therefore am expected to support perjury in court, or an attempt to kill people by giving them incorrect directions.
All religions are intolerant of each other, because each religion defines a mutually-exclusive lock on a God they believe exists (or in atheism's case, doesn't exist).
That is blatantly not true. Some religions do believe that their religion is meant for all of mankind (they are universalists). Those religions are a problem to others. Some religions however, believe that there are multiple ways to get to know God (or similar), and therefor don't see a point in trying to convince other people to believe their way (they are particularists). Some religions even don't care if other people know God as long as they behave well.
In the interest of not clouding the point (by the the smoke of a flame war) I won't name any religions that belong in any of the categories, but I'd like to point out that it is a floating scale. Some universalist religions have moderated their stance in the face of their neighbours not being to happy with their pushy attitude (or by becoming fat and tired, whatever).
Leaders across the authoritarian states of the M.E. use "issues" like those drawings as a way to vent the frustration of their own people toward "the west." They manipulate whatever-it-is as a sort of social "wedge issue" to keep people angry at someone else. That's what the cartoons thing was about.
Think Gay Marriage. Gay Marriage is something we should deal with, okay -- I'm for it, basically -- but is it among the biggest challenges for our society when compared to economic, environmental, foreign, and every other kind of policy in this country being run with only the enormous multinational business interests at the table and nobody from any other perspective having a voice? The monied interests behind the old Republican party discovered after the civil rights movement that they could patch together a coalition of fearful social conservatives and keep those fears yoked up to the party's economic interests. When the rank and file get upset, lo and behold, there will always be a distracting social "issue" to motivate them again. (Janet Jackson's bustier popped open -- OMG! OMG! Society is breaking down! Election cycle -- Oh No! Pass a bunch of anti-Gay-Marriage amendments, it's a crisis!)
It's all about preserving authority, not about the specific faiths involved. Authoritarian religion turns to demagoguery like this to release pressure.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
I can't believe I got marked troll for that!
GeekServ Unix Consulting Services (http://www.geekserv.com)
We also have some great fjords!
Defining Statistics and Social Research
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&as_qdr=all& q=iran+hang+girl&btnG=Search
Does anyone expect they are concerned about any other human rights?
Sheesh people, wake up and smell the Sharia.
Hi Xiando,
On a serious note, please check in at a local mental hospital. You can have informal talks with the staff there and you may find that some of your paranoia can be helped with modern medicines.
i just read a basic fluff piece on iran on time magazine. there was a quote that went something like this: "The young people like mohammad khatami becuase he lets them wear baggy pants and pink viels, they arent bothered by him restricting speech." this from an interview with weathly iranians at a ski resort in that country.
always mosh clockwise
The difference is that today an "Alien and Sedition" act would be two-hundred pages long, mostly contain clauses about funding frivilous money projects in the congresscritters' home states, and the courts would rule that the "alien" bit regressively racist unconstitutional discrimination whilst they would rule the "sedition" bit totally compatible with the first amendment.
When things get complex, multiply by the complex conjugate.
... why? Iran's entire "government" is based on radical Islam -- meaning, "kill everyone who doesn't believe in Allah." Not sure why this is news. This is how it is, and how it ever will be, with most Muslim countries.
Frammin' on the jim-jam, frippin' at the krotz!
They are not supporting these governments, they are trying to do business in a foreign country and to do so they must obey their laws. Just like someone who wants to do business in the United States must obey our laws...the only catch is...an American company doing business in a foreign country must obey American laws and that countries laws...it becomes a problem when the laws are in conflict....For example - many countries require a little bit of bribing to get in a meeting with someone...it is not against the law, and if you want the meeting you better do it....however, in the USA, this is strictly illegal and punishable by law. Now let us say you are an American company trying to get the business of someone in Russia and you are competing with someone from Brazil. The person from Brazil may not have the anti-bribing laws - so before your foot gets in the door you are at a disadvantage.
basically, the gist of my of thing - there are proper ways of fighting injustice and breaking the laws is not one of them. If you want to make the best changes, work within the system. If google gets it's foot in the door of Iran then they can slowly change the system by (gradually) bringing in idea's of capitalism, freedom of speech, etc...but these things take time.
I mod down so you can mod up. Your welcome.
except that, generally, the US Gov won't come to your home, throw you in jail and *KILL YOU* without due process. It's still hard for them to do that, despite what you read on Slashdot or see on TV.
Frammin' on the jim-jam, frippin' at the krotz!
I think one of the real things the Iranian govt is scared of is the way blogs could spread radical/reformist ideas, I am pointing out the obvious, but the obvious especially true as about 75% (thereabouts I think) of Iran's population is under thirty. To use a sweeping generalisation what demographic of a population are more easily radicalised to a cause and use the internet/blogs a lot. Theres a lot of crap blogs out there, wouldn't mind those being shut down but in the case of something serious like Iranian Government reform I will "endure" blogs in this case.
On certain western nation(s) planning on doing a bit of statebuilding in Iran, I would say long term it s a bad idea, for a strong government to be formed, it has to be formed from within. The reasons (good or bad) for such actions is not something I will go into in this post. But it is my opinion that arificially created Govts do not survive more than a few years before they are either dismantled by the old guard or some new bunch of dictators. If the Iranian Govt are unsuccessful in shutting down blogos then there is always crapflooding as an alternative.
Deposits of $10,000 or greater have always been reported to the IRS, not Homeland security, for tax reasons. This was implemented back in the Carter administration as a method of tracking mafia money being laundered.
You sir are an Antiblogotarian.
-Rick (j/k)
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
I agree there is more than a little effort on the part of the U.S. government to censor dissenting views in this country. Also, paying off a credit card apparently sends flags to Homeland (in)Security. http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detai l&pk=RAISEALARM-02-28-06
I completely misread that title, and at first thought it said "Iran Cracks Down on Boogers". I was thinking, "man, those guys are strict!"
psmylie's dictionary: Godzillion (noun) Any number large enough to destroy Tokyo
I think that one mistake we make, as occidentals, is judgind them by our own rules. but since we live in a different world than them, since we live in a different culture, with different values...different moralities we can't really be objective about right or wrong regarding how they live. Of course, I think hanging a rape victim because it dishonors the family is a crime, but in a country were honor as actually less value than money, who am i to judge what honor is worth.
How does one know that what they're doing is fundamentaly wrong? You can't judge a man if you havent walked a mile in his shoes.
The sharia was created after muhammad the same way that here, religious documents were created after the christ's death and yet hold no less value than the bible itself.
This is something I read from omninerd lately and I find it very informative, it really helps taking a step back and *trying* to be objective about it.
http://www.omninerd.com/2005/12/30/articles/45
Also, human rights is a very subjective thing. it varies from country to country. and yes, in some country, by our standards there are little to no human rights, but again, who are we to judge whether this is good or bad. They've lived this way for centuries and accept it. Here, we fought back for our rights and look where its brought us: increased violence, corruption and jerry springer. So again, who are we to judge. How do we know our way is the right way ?
I don't approve all things done in the muslim world but I certainly cannot go and tell them what they do is wrong because i have absolutely no clue what brought them into living this way in the first place.
That's my 2c about it.
If you look like your passport photo, you're too ill to travel. - Will Kommen
intresting concept, but does it work?
. . . who are persecuted by their totalitarian government for exercising their natural rights than for the false bravado and excessive hubris of our own "dissidents."
What interests me is that, from the perspective of your own posting, you idenity with the totalitarian government.
Hey, just because many Muslim countries aren't tolerant it doesn't mean that Islam is intrinically intolerant. You have to separate religion and the practice of it. The problem isn't with Islam, it is with intolerant Muslims. The irony is that they are violating the Quran while claiming to uphold it. As it states: "There must be no compulsion in religion"
The article you so sarcastically linked to is a great argument for pluralism within Islamic societies.
isn't this Iranian crack down on blogs in the same realm as the US Government illegally spying on its citizens?
So by your inferred premise, this guy should be punished more severely for leaking an illegally recorded private phone conversation involving 2 US citizens, right?
Amazing how government officials get away with this BS. If any private citizen tape recorded someone else's phone conversations without the consent of the parties involved, they might be staring at jail time. Hopefully, Congress will do the right thing and remove this dangerous, power-hungry madman from power immediately.
In case of fire, do not use elevator. Use water!
this means its only a matter of time before Iran crumbles. It seems each time freedom of speech and the press is attacked it backfires big time on the government. Except perhaps Nazi Germany. It can't be known if they would have imploded due to it because they started a world war forcing others to overthrow it.
If the US government censors, please explain Michael Moore, Rush Limbaugh, David Duke, Pat Robertson, DemocraticUnderground, Free Republic, DailyKos, Louis Farrakhan, Anne Coulter, Al Sharpton.
And your own damn post.
Who wrote this crap, Jon Katz?
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
Internet access isn't a human right.
Besides, this is iran.. no great loss anyway.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
BOTH communists and capitalists suck. Being an apologist for the American puppet is no better than being an apologist for the Soviet puppet. All forces of centralization and power whether religious, capitalist, or communist tend towards oppression, police states, violence and destruction. Lets do better than being apologists for communists, capitalists, or fundies of any stripe.
t =6613&num=27
"Kraj Majales (King of May)
And the Communists have nothing to offer but fat cheeks and eyeglasses and
lying policemen
and the Capitalists proffer Napalm and money in green suitcases to the
Naked,
and the Communists create heavy industry but the heart is also heavy
and the beautiful engineers are all dead, the secret technicians conspire for
their own glamour
in the Future, in the Future, but now drink vodka and lament the Security
Forces,
and the Capitalists drink gin and whiskey on airplanes but let Indian brown
millions starve
and when Communist and Capitalist assholes tangle the Just man is arrested
or robbed or has his head cut off..."
http://www.poemhunter.com/p/m/poem.asp?poem=0&poe
Tired of all the isms, don't exploit people as an employer, or a government, mmmmK?
Does that concern you? Article about Bush hearing voices in his head telling him God told him to do it:
o ries/2005/10_october/06/bush.shtml
"President George W Bush told Palestinian ministers that God had told him to invade Afghanistan and Iraq - and create a Palestinian State, a new BBC series reveals."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/st
This attack in turn led to the death of over 30,000 innocent Iraqi civilians:
http://iraqbodycount.org/
Christian nut cases like Bush in my own country concern me far more than some pissed off Muslims half way around the world. 911 was a one off and the forces of repression in the U.S. are using it to fan xenophobia and torch the constitution. If we just stopped consuming more than our fair share of oil and stopped catering to Israel's every whim, poof, no more pissed off Muslims problem solved, then all you religious fanatics hearing voices of "God" in your head can maybe get some Thorazine and the rest of us sane people will then sleep more soundly.
Tired of all the isms, don't exploit people as an employer, or a government, mmmmK?
You're making the false assumption that I meant to say the U.S. government censors everything. Bullshit. Don't put words in my mouth.
I do not think the U.S. government is the worst country in the world when it comes to censorship. Not by a long, long, long shot. But it does do it in subtle ways. Remember the "Free Speech Zones?" How about the Patriot Act? (I know I just opend a can of worms right there, sadly, but it's true) How about that woman who was arressted during the President's State of the Union Address for wearing a dissenting t-shirt? How about every god damn senator who blames *insert common form of popular media here* and tries to ban/alter it every election year?
No, this is not as bad as other countries. No, people generally aren't being murdered or kidnapped in the streets for saying "I don't like the war."I'm not so daft as to compare this to Stalinist Russia, but there is censorship in America, and I think it's a rising issue. Just because I'm not afraid of seeing TV jerk-off pundit #647 or myself getting kidnapped by a spy because we said something not nice about the government on the Internet doesn't mean censorship doesn't happen.
Can anyone tell me what is insightful about this?
On a serious note, please check in at a local mental hospital. You can have informal talks with the staff there and you may find that some of your paranoia can be helped with modern medicines.
And if they can't help you, at least you won't be here anymore.
Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
In my previous response, I realized I was quite rude, and wanted to take the time to apologize. Re-reading my original post, I did come off the warong way unintentionally. I do believe the U.S. government censors things, but not in the way my original post stated. As far as I'm concerned, all 1st world nations use censorship. Austrailia, Canada, Germany, France... Obviously, it's not as bad as, say, China, but I still consider it censorship. However, my original post did not convey this very well, and my response to you was demeaning and angry, which was wrong.
Paying for something does not equal morality, I could pay a "fair market rate" to have someone killed, that does not make murder moral.
And no I don't want to kill the Jews or harm the Jews, I just think the nation state of Israel ought to deal on it's own, without our help, with the problems it has created by violating international law. For example according to Jews against the occupation the state of Israel is in violation of literally dozens of U.N. resolutions regarding it's occupation of the Palestinians territories:
http://www.jatonyc.org/UNresolutions.html
Am I suggesting the Palestinian suicide bombers are right? No, what I'm suggesting is that the mess Israel is in is none of our affair in the U.S. and we ought to stop supporting Israel with out tax dollars, period, end of story.
Happy now troll?
Tired of all the isms, don't exploit people as an employer, or a government, mmmmK?
A few months ago Hossein Derakhshan made a visit to Israel. This means he probably won't be going back to Iran in the near future.
Stop worrying about the risks of nuclear power and start worrying about the risks of not using nuclear power.
"The problem is not with Israal." Yeah, try telling that to the families of Palestinian children killed by Israelis soldiers:
, 00.html
"Last year alone, 50 children under the age of eight were shot dead or blown up by the Israeli army in Gaza: eight, one of whom was two months old, were slaughtered when a one-tonne bomb was dropped on a block of flats to kill a lone Hamas leader, Sheikh Salah Mustafa Shehada. But Rahman, Huda and Haneen were not "collateral damage" in the assassination of Hamas "terrorists", or caught in crossfire. There was no combat when they were shot. There was nothing more than a single burst of fire, sometimes a single bullet, from an Israeli soldier's gun."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1007051
Tired of all the isms, don't exploit people as an employer, or a government, mmmmK?
Paying for something does not equal morality, I could pay a "fair market rate" to have someone killed, that does not make murder moral.
In this case, however, paying is _very_ moral. Europe abandoned colonialism (and I'm proud that America pushed Europe on that) and left the Middle East. The Middle East got its own governments and nationalized oil production, forming a cartel (OPEC) to get fair prices. So it's not like they are not being rewarded for their oil production. The middle east would be a shitty place (poorly skilled people, little industrialization) if it were not for oil money.
Yes, we do have to deal with freaking kleptocracies in the Middle East. So what's the alternative? install puppet governments over there (like that hasn't been tried)? Or let fundamentalists depose the kleptocrats and hold the world hostage?
And what's the alternative until an alternative energy source is deployed? Frankly, oil gives a great reason to the international community to stay engaged and _care_ about the Middle East. If tomorrow Jetsons-style powerpacks became reality, the temptation to nuke the Mid-East in retaliation for a terrorist attack would be much higher than it is today -- it'd make both the kleptocrats and the fanatics go away.
what I'm suggesting is that the mess Israel is in is none of our affair in the U.S. and we ought to stop supporting Israel with out tax dollars, period, end of story.
You're deluded if you think Israel is the only 'cause' the Islamic fanatics cream their panties about.
Read OBL's demands, they were well-publicized before he became persona non grata after 9/11.
He's basically looking to (re)create the 'Dar-ul-Islam', a pan-Islamic caliphate spanning the breadth of the old Islamic empire upto Andalus in Spain in the West.
There was also his moaning about how Muslims are much put upon by heathens in Chechnya, Yugoslavia and Kashmir.
If you think the answer to OBL and his ilk is to pack up and go home, you're -- well, to repeat myself, deluded. Giving in to a bully is the single worst thing you can do. Do that and I _guarantee_ you they will find other causes. Europe will have separate laws for Muslims within a decade as Europe's native Muslim fanatics smell blood. And then they'll work up the courage to attack the 'great Satan', which is their charming name for the US.
Am I suggesting the Palestinian suicide bombers are right?
What you are saying is basically we should reward them for thuggery. To which I say: no. I don't _care_ how right or wrong various Muslim grievances are, the day they stop acting like dicks is the day we'll talk with them. Not before.
the problems it has created by violating international law.
PS. There's no such thing as 'international law'. What you call 'international law' is years of convention developed among states that practiced with certain standards (or in the case of UN Security Council Resolutions, the wishes of five countries at any given point of time, enforceable by the five if they wish to). Given that we now have new non-state actors with very different standards (e.g., chopping off civilian heads), please don't look so shocked when international law^Wconvention changes, too.
Go somewhere random
Have you ever considered the fact that the Israeli army would not have to drop 1 ton bombs on flats if Palestinian terrorsts didn't hide in civilian areas and actually fought according to the rules of the Geneva convention (which every liberal I know quotes like a Bible when it comes to US/Israeli 'violations', completely forgetting the the conventions were not a one-sided affair?)
You organize violent activity against state, and howl about "brutal army dogs" when the state strikes back? *laughs*
And if you believe the Palestinians are too weak militarily to follow the Israeli... well, why didn't they do what Mandela did? what Gandhi did? Those two took on enormously entrenced systems and won. And people -- even their enemies -- respect them for it.
Instead in Palestine we have assholes who think they're doing God's Duty by bombing shopping malls. And we have quislings like you who excuse their actions by saying "it's all the fault of the $state and the $army!". Feh.
Go somewhere random
You'd make a lousy psychiatrist. Those are classic symptoms of a schizophreniform disorder, possibly classical paranoid schizophrenia. SSRIs don't help in schizophrenia, unfortunately. There haven't been any good new drugs for the condition for decades (as far as I'm aware).
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." -- Goethe
A question i have been asking myself lately, especially as an Australian have lived abroard (china 2 years) and now back in my home country, what good is free speech if it doesn't achieve anything? We seem to put far to much emphasis on the ability to say what we want, and far to little on weather or not people are listening and/or actaully doing somthing about what we say! It seems to gov goes ahead and makes thier own desicions regardless of public opinion... my two cents :P
Yeah, you're right. I wasn't thinking seriously, just trying to be funny, so I didn't do my homework.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
Might as well nip this in the bud before too many other people waste a reply on this. You're right. You wouldn't use SSRIs.
Someone else already addressed this. I was just trying to be funny, and didn't do any fact-checking on what kind of drugs you'd actually use.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
How dare those evil Iranian thugs steal the thunder from deserving white rich kids like us. Bastards!
-Eric
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Israel isn't aggressive, what a bunch of b.s. the settlements and the apartheid wall are way beyond the 1967 green line border agreed to by the international community. Occupation of the the Israelis territory has very much been an aggressive action from 1948 onwards. People are getting very much sick of the whole thing both victory of Kadima and the victory of Hamas prove majorities in both countries are sick of Israelis aggression against Palestinian territory.
Tired of all the isms, don't exploit people as an employer, or a government, mmmmK?
Wow what an articulatge response to israel's war crimes of slaughtering innocent civilians and expanding it's territory beyond the green linein violation of multiple U.N. sanctions. With an articulate respose such as that you'd make a good Likud party cabinet member.
Tired of all the isms, don't exploit people as an employer, or a government, mmmmK?
It is funny, insult religion, get modded insightful, insult google, get modded to troll a week after being modded +5 insightful
You say you want a revolution....