Month: May 2005

Aren’t You Ashamed?


Uri Avnery and Gush Shalom group demonstrating. – A symbolic blood stain on the national flag. – More Photos by Rachel Avnery.

The car stopped for a moment. An elderly lady pushed her head out of the window and shouted; “Aren’t you ashamed of yourselves? Today is Holocaust Day, and you are demonstrating for Arabs?!”

“How can one demonstrate for Arabs, especially on Holocaust Day?
Well, it’s a good question. And there is a good answer.

The answer expresses one of the lessons to be drawn from the Holocaust, a lesson that should be raised like a banner on Holocaust Day:

– That decent persons must come to the aid of a persecuted minority.
– That loyalty to your country does not justify agreement with the occupation of another country and the oppression of another people.
– That you must not accept an ideology telling you that you belong to a master nation, to a superior race, to a chosen people – and that other people are inferior and subhuman.

… But Palestinians, and Arabs generally, are not considered full human beings…”

— Uri Avnery

Uri Avnery is a longtime Israeli peace activist. Since 1948 has advocated the setting up of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. In 1974, Uri Avnery was the first Israeli to establish contact with PLO leadership. In 1982 he was the first Israeli ever to meet Yassir Arafat. He served 3 terms in the Israeli Parliament (Knesset), and is the founder of Gush Shalom (Peace Bloc)

[Via: Je Blog]

Global Hand

Every day, goods are trashed in one part of the world that could ease suffering in another.

Global Hand wants to see those goods reach people in need.

We live in a dysfunctional world: one that allows massive waste and need. We have excessive product, on one hand, and excessive need on the other. Global Hand wants to change that.

Our goal is to link people who have available goods, non-profit organisations who need goods, and those who can transport them.

I think this is a great idea.
I totally agree with their way of thinking, and it has crossed my mind many times how some people sometimes get rid of stuff that others really need and how great it would be if someone could interface between them to maximize the benefit.

I hope a lot of people start working with Global Hand to help each other out and make this world a bit better.

Sony’s Playstation 3 Unveiled

Playstation 3In a glitzy ceremony held at Sony’s film studios yesterday, the company released eagerly anticipated details of its upcoming PlayStation 3 and said the console would reach shelves in spring 2006.

According to the company, the new console will have wireless controllers, a detachable 2.5-inch hard drive, slots for compact flash and Sony’s memory stick media and a built-in Wi-Fi connection that can connect to the Playstation Portable.

The system will include USB 2.0 and gigabit Ethernet connections, and will support games made for previous generations of PlayStation systems. It will include support for up to seven controllers at once, providing much-expanded possibilities for multiplayer games. It’s core processor will run at 3.2GHz.

This baby seems like a winner.
It looks great, just like almost every other Sony product, and has a bunch of cool features packed in it.

[More: Engadget, CNet News]

links for 2005-05-17

Meet The Fockers

Last night we watched “Meet The Fockers” at last. I liked the first one a lot, so I’ve basically been waiting to see this movie ever since it went into production.

It has all the old characters plus Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand as Greg Focker’s (Ben Stiller) mad parents.

The whole plot is about how all hell breaks loose when the Byrnes family meets the Focker family for the first time. Imagine that?

It’s a fun movie with some really nice funny moments, but “Meet The Parents” still remains a lot better. It’s that whole sequel not living up to the original thingie again.
Anyway, I still think this movie is worth checking out.

My score for it is: 7/10

George Lucas on Iraq war, ‘Star Wars’

George Lucas weighs in on the war in Iraq and Star Wars…

“Star Wars” director George Lucas says that although he wrote the original film during the Vietnam War, his six-part saga could apply to the war in Iraq.

”In terms of evil, one of the original concepts was how does a democracy turn itself into a dictatorship,” Lucas told a news conference at Cannes, where his final episode had its world premiere.

”The parallels between what we did in Vietnam and what we’re doing in Iraq now are unbelievable.

[Source: CNN]

I totally agree with his point of view on how a democracy can end up turning itself into an evil dictatorship. The US government is a very good example of it.

On another note, I can’t wait to see Episode III : Revenge Of The Sith… I’m dying to see Anakin’s transformation into Darth Vader…
I just feel this movie’s gonna rock big time!

Kuwait Approves Women’s Political Rights

Good news from Kuwait…

Kuwaiti lawmakers approved political rights for women Monday, clearing the way for females to participate in parliamentary elections for the first time in the Gulf nation’s history.

Scores of women activists in the gallery immediately rose to their feet in applause, with some ululating and others singing the national anthem.

Allowing women to vote could more than double the number of registered voters in Kuwait. Previously, the vote was restricted to men over 21 who were not members of the police force or military — about 139,000 registered voters.

If all women over 21 registered, that total could reach 339,000.

[Source: Yahoo! News]

Congratulations to all Kuwaiti women and to Kuwait.
This is really great news.

Warning: Artist Supports Filesharing

Artist support filesharing sealThis “WARNING ARTIST SUPPORTS FILESHARING” seal is designed to fit in the slot normally filled by the FBI’s new “FBI ANTI-PIRACY WARNING” seal that mars the backs of so many new CDs.

You need something to alert your customers that they won’t face 20 years of prison time for letting a friend download your album. In an effort to combat the Anti-Piracy Seal, an alternative logo for artists who aren’t concerned with file sharing and federal level copyright infringement has been created.

I think this is cool, and I hope some artists start releasing their cds with this seal on it.

[Via: 53×11, Boing Boing]

$441 Billion U.S. Defense Bill Approved

A Senate committee has approved a $441.6 billion defense bill for fiscal 2006 that envisions spending an additional $50 billion next year for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Can you just imagine how much could be done towards making the world a better place with all that money?!
Instead it’s all being spent on war and destruction!!
More lives will be lost, more destruction, more hatred, more enemies, more more more in an endless cycle of mad violence.

The only winners behind this are those giant weapons manufacturers and the politicians they bribe and back.
It’s disgusting…

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie

Last night we watched “The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie“.

I’m a big fan of cartoons and animation, so when our DVD rental place got this one at last, I just had to rent it.

There was a lot of hype around the movie when it was released, so I was expecting something very very good. And well it turned out quite a nice movie to watch. Not as good as I expected, but still good.

The story is about SpongeBob SquarePants and his friend Patrick Star taking leave from the town of Bikini Bottom in order to track down King Neptune’s stolen crown.

It’s fun, funny, cute and well animated. I enjoyed seeing it, although I don’t think it’s the kind of movie you could see many times.
But then again, maybe one more time would be nice 😉

My score for it would be: 6.5/10.