Mid-East Views, Land and Resources.

[tcpip]

YouTube has an excellent six minute video that show many of the difficulties of Palestians living under Israeli occupation. Many of el-jays resident libertarians show themselves to be against freedom (for Palestinians). On topic, homais says some very sensible and balanced things about the current conflict in Lebanon, which are quite similar to the concerns of Johnathan Steele. How could both sides have blundered so badly?

A certain trouble maker has been warbling on about land and housing issues. The fundamental claim is correct; well meaning legislators who ration land are just as much to blame for rising house costs as a taxation system that does not capture the unearned increment in rising land prices. In other resource related news, the ALP is set to ditch their uranium policy, an action will undoubtably lose more votes than what they'll gain. Professor Emertius Ian Lowe has a different idea about energy. Further on-topic (from soulvessel Exxon is still avoiding payouts from the Valdez oil spill of 1989. You can email the CEO here.

claudine_c's speech at the Unitarians on rural health work in India was excellent. Noted the particular difficulties of dealing with an entrenched caste system and the inappropriateness of "western" medical mores. Followed by Brent McAuslan's discussion on the history of war at the philosophy group. Discussion tended towards the psychological motivations. Then the Cybernoia game which imajica_lj has summarised. In rodent news, Vagabond has hurt his spine, probably following a fall. Every dozen steps he lets out a sharp squeak of pain. He's currently drugged up on metacam and sleeping soundly ;-). Well done to dr_nic for providing the worst company URLs.

Comments

pfft

[decrypt-era.livejournal.com]

homais says some very sensible and balanced things

Wasn't all that impressd, really.
While homais has collectd more data than th average person
before beginning their analysis,
and claims the aim of objectivity and avoidance of moralism,
they still fall prey to many of th ridiculous assumptions receiving widespread acceptance,
eg: the idea that Hezb'Allah instigated all this with their abduction.
The Guardian article was even less insightful.
Both pieces amount to little more than head-scratching.
Th reason for their confusion is
that they'r easily distracted by th stated aims of power structures,
which rarely match their intended aims
(altho th stated aims generally do serve th intended aims in some way).
Also, as Said pointd out time & again,
yr understanding will never be very deep
if you insist on viewing groups composed of many millions of ppl
as monolithic objects.

Re: pfft

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

There is a suggestion (and I have certainly raised it) that a body of "biblical fanatics" in Israel want a greater state that stretches from the brook of the Nile to the Euphrates (as per the divine promise).

These people would be in concord with those in the US military who see the sense of a single front from Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan rather than several diconnected fronts.

Which would also accord with sections of Hezb'Allah (love that rewording) wanting to develop further public support in a "bring it on" sort of fashion.

You are quite correct in suggesting that even the most monollithic of groups have more factions and subfactions that anyone cares to mention. After all, one would expect an ALP insider such a myself to be painfully aware of this.

Re: pfft

[omnot.livejournal.com]

For every faction, there will be an equal and opposite refraction? :-P

democratising or necrotising?

[decrypt-era.livejournal.com]

It's a pity that th hard-core Zionists are in th driver's seat in Israel;
most of th Israelis i'v met in person are relaxed ppl,
outspoken yes, but quite adept at getting along with others.
Israel th state, however, was designd to be th stick to stir th pot,
so we never see th moderation of th majority of their popn.

Likewise, most Lebanese i'v met are unusually hospitable, civilised ppl.
This conflict belittles both sides, it belittles our whole species.
We'r being played. It's time to wake up.

To generalise even further
(which we must wheneva we talk about groups of ppl),
i think this Lebanon mess is happenin mainly to provide th US with an "in" to Iran.
China & Russia are taking Iran's side
(to make their central-asian energy trading bloc complete),
so th US desperately needs Euro support to make this fly.
But it hasn't been forthcoming has it?
Their involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan has brought home to them some ugly realities.
What th US could use is a wtc-scale terrorist attack in Europe, and soon.
Pinning it on Hezb'Allah would give US a green light on Iran,
but first, they need to make sure the world media learns Hezb'Allah = Iran.
Also, Israeli occupation of Lebanon will engage not only Hezb'Allah, but Syria too,
which is necessary if an Iranian invasion is to be even slightly feasible.

And after orchestrating all this suffering n misery,
America's plans will fail anyway.
While their air force & socom might remain compliant,
i think th army & navy will refuse to take on Iran,
because militarily, it's an inherently stupid idea,
even if they weren't alredy over-extended.

Re: pfft

[homais.livejournal.com]

Out of curiousity, what are the intended aims in question?

For the record, I don't believe that Hizballah instigated this with the abduction, or not exactly anyway. It sparked the latest conflagration, but the Israeli government has been afraid of Hizballah's increasing sophistication (and even more so of Iran's regional reach) for a while, so I'm inclined to think that they'd been looking for a reason, any reason really, to try neutering Hizballah.

[decrypt-era.livejournal.com]

No-one can make anyone do anything, really.
Power operates by putting ppl in a position where their decisions will be fairly predictable.
So i agree with th notion that Israel was "looking for a reason".

This large-scale attack on Lebanon can't be a spontaneous reaction.
It will have been months in th planning,
same goes for th actions in Gaza and th West Bank.
I'm reminded of that Bill Hicks sketch
where he compares th US to Jack Palance's character in th movie Shane.
Have u seen it?

As for intended aims,
i listed some proximate ones in my reply to tcpip above,
but as an overview,
i'd say th US is engineering for collapse.
They'r cutting taxes, but increasing spending.
They'r not trying to sustain their economy,
they'r burning it up in an effort to grab as many resources as possible,
cos when th numbers crumble,
th value will return soley to th commodities.
They'r aiming to be th first back up after th depression
(like they'r tryin to hit th global reset button).
Of course, this insane plan can only work
if they make a big enough mess to suck everyone else down with them,
which they'l probably manage.
What they'r forgetting is that China now contains all the infrastructure
to turn oil into stuff.

Didn't mean to dis yr analysis, btw -
at least it didn't make my blood boil,
like most o th shit i'm hearin these days.
I think u'r thinkin in a useful direction,
just head further down that path, please!
And when things seem not to make sense,
consider questioning yr assumptions, i beg of you.

[homais.livejournal.com]

So, just so I have this clear, your argument is that the US wants to crash the global economy so that it can later emerge at the top of the global economy?

[decrypt-era.livejournal.com]

Well, sounds crazy, i know,
like bombing a village to save it, perhaps?
Th American Empire is drawing to a close,
all their options are desperate ones.
Their pyramid scheme is almost paralysed with debt,
the corporations are moving on to fresh meat in China & India.
The USA will not go down without a bang,
they never do anything quietly.
Neo-feudalism here we come.