On Various Things…

I’m going to be talking and linking about a few things here, but first how’s this for an eye-catching title? “Lesbians Pick Fight With Gay Women”. This is not joke, its an article about a court case in which the residents from the island of Lesbos are suing gay women!

Next, I’m sure everyone has heard about what happened to those poor children in Austria (locked in a cellar for their whole life). The most interesting thing (and very disturbing) to emerge from this is the fact that the kids thought they were in heaven when they emerged into the sunlight. As well as this, these kids speak in their own private ‘language’ to each other. Words can’t really describe just how, excuse my french, f**ked up that is. Their development is going to be damaged for life, besides being born from incest, I doubt these kids will ever have a normal life. I feel so sorry for them.

Now here is another strange situation that just happened on our metaphorical doorstep (for Australia that is). ‘Timor troops party with rebels’, yep you read right, these people, who many would consider terrorists are being treated like a ‘commander in chief.’

Opposition Fretilin MPs said the party was “bizarre” and sent the wrong message to the people of East Timor.

You think?

“It’s quite immature and also looks bizarre that some, who you call as a rebel who has also been accused of conducting an attack against state, is welcomed like a big head or commander in chief - it is not the right message,” said Arsenio Bano, a Fretilin MP and member of the parliamentary defence and security committee. “Anyone in this country will think now that if you need to get attention from the President or important men, you just need to make trouble - a lot of trouble will allow them to talk to you and negotiate with you.”

Today Israel and Jews all across the world have celebrated Holocaust Day. I have a couple of friends in Poland at the moment who are marking this day while being in Auschwitz on a program called March of the Living. I myself attended this program 2 years ago and I definitely recommend it. The Palestinians however are remembering this day in a different manner (link above).

Meanwhile, Hamas television marked the 63rd anniversary of the Holocaust by suggesting it was orchestrated by Jews to wipe out the disabled among them in preparation for the creation of the state of Israel.

According to the Jerusalem-based Palestinian Media Watch, the head of the Palestinian Centre for Strategic Research, Amin Dabur, said: “The Israeli Holocaust - the whole thing was a joke, and part of the perfect show that (Zionist leader and future Israeli prime minister) Ben Gurion put on”.

The “young energetic and able” were sent to Israel, while the handicapped were sent “so there would be a Holocaust”.

How disgusting is that?

A two-minute siren sounded across Israel at 10am yesterday in memory of the estimated six million Jews who died in the Nazi death camps. People stopped were they were and cars came to a standstill.

Advice for the Lovelorn

A very funny (or is it just the usual standard?) post from Iowahawk here. Enjoy!

Hat tip to LGF.

Jordanian MP’s Call To End Peace Treaty With Israel; Moses High On Sinai?

I’ve decided on a double post for today. Jordan, at the moment has the best Arab alliance with Israel. However, that could start to come into doubt in regards to this news. Hat tip: Eye On The World.

At least 38 members of the Jordanian Parliament signed a petition on Thursday calling on Jordan to end its peace treaty with Israel, according to Ansamed. The parliament refused to vote on the petition, and several Islamic MPs left the hall in protest.

Islamic Action Front (IAF) head MP Hamzeh Mansour explained that the petition was a response to Israel’s “war crimes in Gaza,” as he termed recent IDF counterterrorism operations. The IAF would need a unanimous parliamentary vote in order to begin the process of ending Jordan’s peace treaty with Israel.

Personally, I don’t think Jordan will stop its peace treaty with Israel. For one thing, both countries have worked exceptionally hard to get their relations with each other where they are now. As well as this, I doubt America would be to happy with Jordan as well. Now something slightly more interesting. For those that are atheists, I doubt you will greet this with any major surprise, for those that aren’t, well, this guy may be onto something. Hat tip to Rantings of a Sandmonkey.

High on Mount Sinai, Moses was on psychedelic drugs when he heard God deliver the Ten Commandments, an Israeli researcher claimed in a study published this week.

Such mind-altering substances formed an integral part of the religious rites of Israelites in biblical times, Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem wrote in the Time and Mind journal of philosophy.

“As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don’t believe, or a legend, which I don’t believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics,” Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.

Moses was probably also on drugs when he saw the “burning bush,” suggested Shanon, who said he himself has dabbled with such substances.

“The Bible says people see sounds, and that is a clasic phenomenon,” he said citing the example of religious ceremonies in the Amazon in which drugs are used that induce people to “see music.”

He mentioned his own experience when he used ayahuasca, a powerful psychotropic plant, during a religious ceremony in Brazil’s Amazon forest in 1991. “I experienced visions that had spiritual-religious connotations,” Shanon said.

He said the psychedelic effects of ayahuasca were comparable to those produced by concoctions based on bark of the acacia tree, that is frequently mentioned in the Bible.

Prince Harry Leaves Afghanistan

Just in case you didn’t know, Prince Harry (nicknamed by his men the “ginger bullet magnet”) who was serving in Afghanistan has been pulled out of there because of leaks from the media, specifically The Drudge Report. Of coarse due to the fact that he is a bullet magnet, he can’t stay in Afghanistan anymore which is a real shame as his time in the military has started to take away the image of a rich brat living the playboy life. Having said this, I have a bit of a mixed opinion regarding this, its not as if Al-Qaeda know which base he is in or where his current location is… But the powers that be have decided that he is to much of a risk now and away he goes. Pajamas Media has a nice little tribute article about this. Here is an section that I really like.

In many ways, this is an ideal tabloid story, tapping in to uncomplicated veins of patriotism, bravery, and the still-strong respect for the institution of the monarchy (if not always its personnel). For the more discerning observer, too, there are plenty of pleasing echoes to the tale; the revelation that it was the monarch herself who told Harry of his imminent deployment; that it was to Afghanistan, setting for the colonial exploits romanticised by Kipling and MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman novels , that he was posted; and that he was serving alongside the last vestiges of that imperial army - the feared Gurkhas of Nepal, the best infantrymen in the world. Why, even his nickname, Harry, recalls famous warrior princes of Shakespearean legend; should he succeed to the throne, it would be as Henry IX.

I love Fraser’s novels, Harry Flashman for the win!