Updates On The Mavi Marmara

June 4th, 2010

The Jawa Report has had a number of interesting posts on the incident on the Mavi Marmara recently. I thought I would hit a few highlights:

The story is really coming in from the commandos’ point of view now, and at least one of them is being considered for a medal of valor. The story includes much more information about what was happening in the first seconds on board the ship than I’ve seen anywhere else (including details on the shots fired at the commandos and the fact that the attackers were apparently trained and well paid). Naturally, it doesn’t fit the narrative that much of the media has already created, so it’s being brushed aside.

Another interesting bit is a translation of a speech made by the organizer of the flotilla – definitely provides some perspective.

It would be interesting to analyze the progression of the story from the initial reports to the current narrative, and see how the story has changed. How does the narrative actually change as new details come out? Have individual organizations / governments / media outlets actually corrected previous inaccuracies, or have they simply shifted the story and assumed people would catch up? How much of the shift is intentional, and how much unconscious? It would probably make an interesting paper. (In fact, if anyone wants to collaborate on such a paper, let me know!)

“Peace Activists”

June 3rd, 2010

I had seen this elsewhere earlier, but I’ll give the hat tip to the Jawa Report.

UPDATE: YouTube has pulled this video because apparently they don’t understand the Fair Use Doctrine. There’s another copy of the video here, but I’ll leave up the original embedded video as a reminder of YouTube’s perfidy, and my own laziness.

Israel In The News

May 31st, 2010

The international media is and world governments are currently pretending to be shocked that both Israel and anti-Israel protesters did what they said they would do, and that the inevitable clash happened. Amazing how little is being made of the “peaceful protesters” who attacked the Israeli troops, and how Israel had offered a peaceful solution whereby the ships would deliver their cargo to the Israeli port of Ashdod “and from there [the Israeli government] guaranteed that all humanitarian cargo would be transferred to the people of Gaza.” (Of course, this media circus was never intended to be about the actual aid – especially considering the actual situation in Gaza.) Both sides of the story are likely to come out eventually, but it likely won’t effect the narrative now being created. Probably unsurprisingly, the Israeli media seems to be the only ones who are actively contemplating what this might mean for the future.

More concerning overall is the situation that Israel has found itself in even before the current problems. The Obama administration in Washington is beginning to engage in dialogue with Hamas (which, the last time I checked, was still officially classed as a Foreign Terrorist Organization), and is oscillating rapidly on whether or not to support Israel’s status in regards to their nuclear power status. It’s no wonder that Israel currently feels the need for a more iron-clad assurance of its ability to defend against Iran. I wonder how soon Obama will realize that allowing Israel to be pushed into a corner in dealing with Syria and Iran could be a very bad thing.

“Draw Mohammed Day”

May 19th, 2010

Tomorrow (20 May 2010) is up on some calendars as “Draw Mohammed Day,” a movement largely popularized on Facebook. The most coherent explanation of what it is and why it’s being done that I have seen is this video:

(hat tip: The Jawa Report)

The concept is definitely getting some attention – the Pakistani government has blocked Facebook for the rest of the month for allowing the page to stay online. In the mean time, some Muslims are continuing the same things that sparked the backlash to the backlash:

INTERPOL And Justice

May 13th, 2010

I started to worry when Obama signed an executive order some months ago allowing INTERPOL to operate in the United States. Things like this are one of the main reasons why. While it still seems to be true that INTERPOL wouldn’t be allowed to arrest anyone on American soil, it’s still worrisome that the organization can convince banks to close your accounts and refuse to allow you to open a new one. While the director of INTERPOL in the US says that the executive order “give[s] them the same authorities and immunities that any international organization that’s based here in the U.S. has, nothing more, nothing less” (does anyone else find it odd that he’s the director and he refers to the organization in the third person plural?), it doesn’t quite ring true. Other international organizations aren’t very likely to shut down your bank accounts and threaten to arrest you, now are they?

Missing: One Stripe

May 12th, 2010

…approximately two billion square miles in area…

The solar system is a weird place.

Luckily, this has happened before, and it’ll probably come back (for those of you who are afraid of losing your landmark and missing your turn on the far side of the asteroid belt).

Double Meaning

May 9th, 2010

While teaching gym the other day, I was supervising the students practising their golf swing. One student was standing next to his ball, talking to some other students, and the rest of the group was waiting for him to finish so they could go retrieve the balls they had already hit.

“Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to hit that?” I asked.

Said the student next to him, “That’s what she said!”

The Amish Business Model

May 9th, 2010

I was very interested to see an article on CNN discussing Amish business successes. I was discussing this with my cousin recently, and it’s nice to see the pros take an interest in what the Amish can show them about life.

Not Quite What The Founders Had In Mind

April 30th, 2010

I was teaching freshman civics the other day. The class was watching a video on the eighth amendment. One of the students asked me what video they would be watching.

I said, “it’s called ‘Cruel and Unusual.’”

He said, “oh, like ‘cruel and unusual pleasurement.’ No, wait, that’s not it…”

Americans In Iraq

April 30th, 2010

It’s good to see American soldiers interacting with civilians in Iraq. You do have to wonder what the Iraqis think of the young men and women that they meet…

The U.S. Air Force. Bringing surrealism to a desert near you.