Irish Free Gaza and a Little Bit of History

There's an Irish boat that is going to try to bust the Gaza blockade tomorrow.  Please let's remember that there is a long connection between the Irish Republican Army and the PLO.  In fact, the car bomb was perfected in Ireland and then the IRA went to the Middle East and taught the PLO the best way to blow up a car in exchange for guns.

 

Fanciful stories about the Irish Potato Famine creating sympathy for the current Palestinian plight are romantic, but ill-informed.  The nature of the connection is terrorists sharing their methods for killing people.  The Irish people who still support the Palestinians actively are doubtless connected to the Irish terrorists who taught them how best to build a bomb.

 

But I guess the point of this rant is to highlight how these chattering people on television and radio make things up because they don't know the real reason.

Peace in the Middle East - A Solution !!

What could inspire the leaders in the Middle East to put aside their anger and resentment to reach a lasting peace accord? Besides long-term self-interest, that is?

They would need to overcome their previous commitments to hatred and nasty rhetoric, push aside the screams for blood from their countrymen, be able to figure out solutions where none were visible before - what would do this? What would work?

Apparently, pictures of women in bikinis causes men to act impulsively.

"It wasn't that the men were simply distracted by their sexual arousal, which caused them to choose more impulsively. On the contrary, they exhibited improved cognition and creativity after exposure to sexy stimuli." (see linked article)

So it's even better - pictures of women in bikinis cause men to act impulsively and better.

So this is the plan: get a bunch of Middle-Eastern women in bikinis decorated in the flags of the region to frolic in an adjoining conference room while peace negotiations are going on.

Miss Israel could braid the hair of Miss Egypt. Miss Syria could give Miss Lebanon a pedicure. You get the idea. And it would work.

It already has. When the leader of Argentina visited the UK after the Falklands Island war with his daughter Zulema Menem, much of the jingoistic opposition to the visit died down. She was dressed very elegantly and wore a miniskirt to the memorial honoring the British war dead from the Falklands war and shed a tear. That was enough to turn public opinion.

And she wasn't even wearing a bikini.

As a newspaper at the time put it: There's nothing that British punters like more than to wrap themselves in the flag and sing jingoistic songs except the sight of a pretty girl in a miniskirt. The quote is not exact, it is from memory and I couldn't find it on the web. But you get the idea.

We all like to compliment ourselves about how deep and sophisticated we are, but we aren't that complicated really.

An antidote to this tactic is a sense of financial security. So making these guys feel broke first would be an important part of the plan. Hard to do for Arab millionaires. Feeding them stale bread would make us look poor. I'd say a solid gold car, but any of these guys could do that if they wanted.

Aha! We could tell them that we have discovered an alternative to oil-derived fuel. And on top of that, we have discovered a huge ocean of oil in the U.S. Which goes back to what people have been hinting at for a while: without oil, we don't care if they all kill each other or not. Except Israel. So they need Israel, because that's the only country that Americans care about over there.

The Gaza Scholars

It is hard to think of a better example of what is wrong with Israel's policy towards the Palestinians than not allowing Fulbright scholars to leave the country to pursue their studies.

What exactly does this accomplish? To date, there is no indication that the Gaza scholars are involved with terrorism. What would acting decently and humanely cost you?

People who win Fulbright scholarships tend to be leaders in their society. Israel's decision to deny these people a very prestigious scholarship by not letting them out of the country is going to cause long-term resentment. Considering the other ways the Palestinians are being treated by Israel, it is probably nominal in its impact.

Not letting people use their Fulbright scholarships is wrong and not strategic. The people in question are not going away. It would be just a little thing to let some scholars accept their scholarships. But for some reason, that is too much for Israel.

Implications of a Fuel Cell Car

So Iceland has created a fuel cell car. At $8 for a gallon of gas, Icelanders must be very happy.

Supposing, in the next ten years, this technology is adopted throughout the world. The demand for gasoline is radically and dramatically reduced. Are we going to continue caring about the Middle East in quite the same way? Of course not.

And if the demand for oil is reduced, then the riches of the Arab and Persian nations will also be reduced. So the money sent to radical Islamist groups will also be reduced, as will their ability to cause trouble elsewhere in the world.

Another nation affected would be Russia. Russia is basing its current bout of hegemony on its supply of oil. Witness the threats to cut off the heat to its neighbors last winter. I always predicted that the Russian resurgence would be short-lived. Now they can focus their efforts on fighting Canada for ice flows.

A fuel cell car - imagine! I'm dying to get a new car myself, but my husband and my sister prudently are talking me out of it. One way to inspire myself to patience would be dreams of a fuel cell car THAT DOESN'T USE GASOLINE!! With leather interiors, of course. I wouldn't get a car without leather interiors.

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As an aside, you can usually click on the title of a post to see an article related to my rant.

U.S. Talks With Iran: Is War Still in the Air?

Yes. Don't be fooled. The Bush Administration acknowledged that the country cannot be run like Texas when it agreed to have conversations with Iran. It only took them six years. As a national leader, you have to talk to people you hate. Freezing them out is ineffective.

But the Bush Administration is populated with people who don't change their minds and hate new ideas. So their thoughts from twenty years ago, namely, to invade Iraq and then Iran, are still driving their thinking and policy decisions.

It would be wise to watch the news reports and the rhetoric. Recently, an article appeared about Iranian problems with drug smugglers. It was a sympathetic article to Iran and likened their border issues with ours. The appearance of this article can be seen as a signal that the U.S. position towards Iran is open to cooperation. It would be a declaration of "common ground," if you will. The Bush Administration would be feeding the notion that Iran and the U.S. could unite in fighting narcotics trafficking.

How strong would that "common ground" be? Almost illusionary. Iran should not be baited into any conciliatory stance.

Don't be surprised if a sudden reversal of rhetoric occurs, painting Iran as an enemy of the U.S. One would be mistaken to think that any gains in understanding between the U.S. and Iran would preclude manic accusations from our President. That is not the case.

And when the President speaks, he is speaking to his political base. So the reassurance of "don't listen to what I say, watch what I do" would be hollow.

The Pope Allies With Iran

Pope Benedict supports Iran's right to use nuclear energy. Not nuclear bombs, mind you, but nuclear energy. Pope Benedict met with Khatami, former leader of Iran. The Pope also mentioned the "freedom of religion" in Iran. Except if you are Jewish. He didn't think of that part, I guess.

"Meanwhile, Khatami said, 'Today, Muslims, Christians and followers of other religions should stress on their commonalities and strive to maintain unity in the face of insecurity and violence.' The former president regarded lack of kindness and justice as the root cause of main problems for mankind."

He's joking, right? Like calling for the destruction of Israel is kindness and justice?

I appreciate what the Pope is trying to do. He is trying to get a dialog going with Iran when the U.S. is failing to do this. The Pope is trying to get Iran talking and getting applause for nonviolent actions. That is a good thing. He is getting Iran engaged in positive constructive rhetoric which will be mentioned in the future, believe me.

Basically, Popes are forced to do things like this when the leader of the free world acts like a high school bully and snob all rolled into one. Bush senior was known for treating world leaders like they were all in some exclusive club. Bush junior acts the same, only he won't let everyone into the club and won't talk to those who don't belong. Not a mature way to handle foreign policy.

Peace in the Middle East: The Payoff for Peace

The Israeli paper, Haaretz, reported that the King of Jordan supported the idea of giving Palestinians a payment rather than a guarantee of a return to their old land. Hamas went bonkers and has returned to sending rockets into Israel.

Let's face it, all of the Palestinians are not going to return. Just give them the money and let's move on. Of course, Hamas will no longer have any reason to keep on killing people except that they are bloodthirsty jerks. They will probably invent another reason.

The Arab Plan for Peace

So what's with those Arabs wanting peace with Israel? True, if they stopped fighting each other a sudden burst of prosperity would hit the region. But that's not enough of a reason. Maybe these Arab leaders are tired of the criminal element that is exploiting radical Islam. Maybe they don't think Israel will go for it and that will be a good excuse for even more bad behavior in the future.

Maybe Iran's actions are really starting to freak them out. Maybe the annihilation of Israel is not something they want, at lease by nuclear means. After all, the fallout would be on them. Maybe Iran is too strong now, and that is a bigger problem for them.

Who knows? Either way, it is a welcome development
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Predictions for the 21st Century

Econo-Girl is relisting her predictions at the end of this post for reference.

In my family's little German village of Bad Kissingen in 1899, a group of people became convinced that the world would end in 1900. So they gave away their possessions and walked to the top of the mountain, waiting for the inevitable. And waited. And waited.

You can guess the ending.

In a sense, those doomsayers were right, though. The world was ending, but just the world as they knew it.

We are in a similar situation now. We can't see what will happen next. We think the world will end. It won't. It just will be inexplicably and unpredictably different. I don't think its horrible that the Western world is forced to turn to alternative fuels quickly. There is no other way they would do it. Venezuela and Brazil will be in ascendancy and the U.S. will have to change how we deal with them. Not horrible, just different. Russia will be like a nasty old man whose time on the stage is ending. There will be a brief blip from oil and space technology, but it won't last. Every nation in the Middle East will be forced to confront the internal struggles it masks by fighting one another. It may or may not be violent.

Taken in another light, these are not horrible things. Just things to adapt to.

PREDICTIONS:

Centrufigal forces within Islam are now unstoppable, and every nation is going to be affected.

Europe and the U.S. will find fuel efficiency and alternative fuels to be fascinating very soon, and worthy of their attention and resources like never before. It will be amazing how quickly alternative fuels become cost-effective.

Russia will see its interests rise again. The immediate demand for oil will have them strutting around again like the old days. Maybe then Putin will smile. Europe will not be as calm the next time Putin throws a tantrum.

Venezuela will become even more insufferable. Brazil will join them.

The trade embargo against Cuba will be lifted.

Israel will have to confront its own problems and grapple with a potential civil war. The religious right will not be a winner in that one.

The political force that is modern Islam is a powerful one. Now let's watch them use that power to kill each other.