The Wolf in Wolf's Clothing

I'm not blogging at the moment - Not much in the mood and I've got stuff going on at work. But I couldn't pass on this one.

A senior Saudi royal has offered Israel a vision of broad cooperation with the Arab world and people-to-people contacts if it signs a peace treaty and withdraws from all occupied Arab territories.

In an interview with Reuters, Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former ambassador to the United States and Britain and adviser to King Abdullah, said Israel and the Arabs could cooperate in many areas including water, agriculture, science and education.

Asked what message he wanted to send to the Israeli public, he said:

"The Arab world, by the Arab peace initiative, has crossed the Rubicon from hostility towards Israel to peace with Israel and has extended the hand of peace to Israel, and we await the Israelis picking up our hand and joining us in what inevitably will be beneficial for Israel and for the Arab world."

The 22-nation Arab League revived at a Riyadh summit last year a Saudi peace plan first adopted in 2002 offering Israel full normalisation of relations in return for full withdrawal from occupied Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese land.

Israel shunned the offer then, at the height of a violent Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

But it has expressed more interest since the United States launched a new drive for Israeli-Palestinian peace at Annapolis, Maryland, last November, aiming for an agreement this year.

Prince Turki, who was previously head of Saudi intelligence, said that if Israel accepted the Arab League plan and signed a comprehensive peace, "one can imagine the integration of Israel into the Arab geographical entity".

"One can imagine not just economic, political and diplomatic relations between Arabs and Israelis but also issues of education, scientific research, combating mutual threats to the inhabitants of this vast geographic area," he said.

Water, agriculture, science and education? I think I'd take a pass on their water if at all possible. Ditto with the ag.

Science gets more interesting. What in the hell have the Arabs done in science that the Israelis' haven't run circles around? I'm sure the Israelis know how to build a car bomb. I'm sure they could figure out how to strap a suicide vest on an enfant if they put their minds to it. Syria hasn't sent a man to the moon recently. Are they planning to show the Israelis new drilling techniques? I'm not certain what the Arab world has contributed to the advancement of mankind since soap.

Education is another good one. Is there that long a line at the Madrassas? I don't see the Israelis getting real excited about learning how to blow up their own restaurants. These bastions of higher learning boast literacy rates of between 50% to 60% over the past 10 years (although rates increase in surveys permiting self reporting).

And what threats to the inhabitants of this "vast geographic region" are there other than the Arabs?

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Iran and Co. no more want peace with Israel than they want the price of oil to plummet. Stupid article.

"Barak", the Conservative

Periodically it is good to be reminded how stupid some people are, and the First Amendment makes that all possible. Each time you catch yourself saying "G_d, I wish that person would just shut up, remember all the joy that comes to your life when some moron from Hollywood opens his or her mouth.

Addressing Oprah directly, Roseanne adds, “You are a closeted republican and chose Barak [sic] Obama because you do not like other women who actually stand for something to working American Women besides glamour, angels, Hollywood and dieting!”

Wednesday night, Roseanne seemed to throw her support behind Hillary Clinton, stating, “I have decided that having a woman president before any man of any color is what these times call for.” But by Thursday morning she assured she “liked Obama, too.”

What does that first stupid sentence mean? That "Barak" only appeals to republicans devoted to glamour, angels, Hollywood and dieting? Bad news. Hollywood does not appeal to republicans. And when was the last time Roseanne worked?

Ignoring the hard cold fact that "Barak" is very liberal, how comforting is it to know that the two most important factors to this formerly working gal are race and sex.

I haven't met any working gals who support Hillary. Even liberal expat women are supporting "Barak" Obama.

Unexpected Exercise

Here is a perfect China story. I came back to my apartment in the middle of the day today because I had left some things behind this morning. I arrived to find that both elevators had been taken off line for maintenance. They aren't broken, they just need maintenance.

I live on the 28th floor. Granted, I can be lazy, but walking up 24 flights of stairs (they don't have floors with 4's in them or the 13th floor) in a suit wasn't what I had in mind.

This is right up there with our office complex taking the HVAC unit down for maintenance at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday in August.

She Would Know

Nearly seven years out office, former Secretary of State Madeline Albright pulls no punches bashing the Bush administration’s handling of certain issues – calling it one of America’s “worst presidencies.”



Albright gave President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney very poor marks and listed goals for the next president to do better that include embracing a global view of climate change.

“This is a purely practical point here, and I think there’s a lot of work to be done” Albright said. “And I think the judgment is that this is one of the worst presidencies we’ve had and people will wonder what it is that the role of the vice president is.”

Arrogant Imbeciles Watch

People are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to be educated by people like this:

An academic delegation of Columbia University professors and deans of faculties plans to visit Tehran to officially apologize to Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

The delegation plans to express regret for the insulting remarks Columbia University President Lee Bollinger directed at Ahmadinejad on September 24 in his introductory speech, the Mehr News Agency correspondent in New York reported.

Since the incident, the deans and professors from the faculties of history, anthropology, Middle Eastern studies, philosophy, and Islamic studies have criticized Bollinger’s behavior toward Ahmadinejad.

It would seem that alumni donations and new applications would dry up.

Legal System with Chinese Characteristics

From the China Economic Review in January, 2008, an article entitled Rule of Law with Chinese Characteristics, a certain English gentleman (notably English because of his use of "Whilst" and his name "Graeme Johnston") suggests that actually applying existing laws in an objective and transparent way is not inconsistent with the concept of Communism. That if the decision-maker were able to "apply the law consistently and with principle and be immune to behind-the-scenes influence", the government might become more credible.

Even if the courts avoid controversial topics such as constitutional issues in the US and begin more modestly - laws affecting day-to-day economic issues, the perception of the government would improve.

It would be an excellent place to start.

Interesting New Edict From Beijing

I'm sure I'm not understanding this correctly.

The State Council, China's cabinet, has released a circular banning the production, sale and use of super-thin plastic bags in China beginning from June 1, 2008, Star Daily reported (in Chinese). The circular set a thickness standard for plastic bags at 0.025mm, and required that retailers stop providing free plastic bags of any thickness to their customers. The State Council called on related authorities such as the Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the State Administration of Industry and Commerce to make a joint effort to enforce the regulation. Violators of the rule could face fines and public shaming, as well as confiscation of the bags.

What exactly are retailers supposed to use? Paper bags? There are no trees in China.

Plastic bags are much more prevalent in China than in the US. Every vendor at the fabric market, the local fruit stand, the grocery stores, the small shoe stores on the street, the veggie markets - every vendor uses them. And reuses them. Other than a few grocery stores, I've never received a "new" plastic bag. Are we forced to start paying for used plastic bags? What price do you charge? Do I have to negotiate?