Segacs's World I Know

Posts Tagged ‘lynn’

Of course it’s good news that Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig were released unharmed. But Lynn B. is essential reading on the larger context here:

My elation at Steve and Olaf’s release was quickly replaced by outrage when I heard about their forced conversion. The video turned my stomach. It should turn the stomach of every American and every person of whatever nationality who believes that the concepts of liberty and freedom have any value and any meaning. What sort of religion, in this day and age, would demand converts at the point of a gun or the blade of a sword? What sort of religion would even want such “converts?”

In any event, as has been pointed out elsewhere (and it was my first thought after hearing about this “forced” conversion), Centanni and Wiig are now marked men if they retract their coerced statement of faith. That would make them apostates under Islamic doctrine, subject to the death penalty at the hand of any devout Muslim who wishes to glorify Allah by carrying out the sentence. So it isn’t over. Not by a long shot.

Read the rest. Now.

They’re celebrating and dancing in the streets of Lebanon, because they’ve kidnapped Israeli soldiers and fired rockets. They see all-out chaos in sight, and they’re celebrating.

In Gaza, Hamas is thrilled that they have more “martyrs” and more fodder for inciting hatred. They’re stepping up their attacks as Israel is caught fighting on two fronts.

In Israel, nobody is celebrating. Olmert is talking and reacting tough against Lebanon; Bush is including Syria and Iran in his warnings.

The powder keg is simmering, and appears to be nearing a boiling point.

Lynn asks, is it war yet?

If it is, I have no doubt that Israel will stand strong and do what is required, but I cringe nonetheless. Anxious parents with sons and daughters in the IDF know that the country will not cave or yield, but it doesn’t make the situation any easier. I fear this is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets any better.

The situation in Gaza post-pullout is pretty much what most rational people predicted, and is a shattering disillusionment for those who’d held out hope that the pullout would jump-start the peace process.

Meryl, of course, is all over the story – here, here, and here are a few recent postings. And Lynn had no illusions to begin with, but as she well knows, there’s no joy in this version of “I told you so”.

The Palestinians have been handed a huge opportunity in Gaza to prove to the world that they’re ready for a state. And of course, this opportuity is being squandered, just like all those that came before it.

I didn’t want to post on the death of Terri Schiavo, mainly because every media outlet and op-ed writer and blogger has already said way too much.

But watching the media circus surrounding her last days, I have to pause to express my disgust.

The whole thing is so sad. This was a family battle, between a husband who claims he was just trying to let his wife die in dignity, and parents who have been in denial about their daughter’s condition for fifteen years and just wanted her back like she was, realistic or no.

It should have remained a private matter. Instead, it turned into a Democrat-versus-Republican, knock-down, drag-out media circus. The fact that the top story on Entertainment Tonight was the Schiavo case and the reaction of celebrities should say everything there is to say about what’s wrong with this whole thing. A private tragedy should not be our entertainment – tonight or any other night.

Lynn said it better than I could, as usual. To that, I’ll just add that, working in the direct mail fundraising field, this doesn’t surprise me much.

Here’s Lynn on speculation that Arafat’s death will bring an immediate opportunity for peace:

There seems to be a broad assumption among the pundits these days that the (acknowledged) passing of Arafat will open the door for peace.

[ . . . ]

Allow me to rain heavily on this parade. The poison that Arafat has implanted, at the behest and with the able assistance of every Arab government in the Middle East, will not dissipate with his last artificially induced breath. It’ll linger on for a long, long time. In fact, I’d say that one significance of the passing of Arafat may well be this: that when and only when his memory becomes a curse among his own people, when the palestinians cringe at hearing his name, when they spit on whatever grave he ends up in — only then will that door to peace begin to come ajar.

Imagine, just for a moment, a Germany in which Hitler remained a universal symbol of pride and honor after WWII. Would the Allies have been able to fashion a sustainable peace with such a Germany?

I haven’t done this in a while, and I think some of my fave bloggers are feeling neglected. Not that they care about the 2 hits they’ll get from these links, but hey, I think they’re great reads… so you should too

Lynn is not impressed by Arafat’s mea culpa and neither is Meryl. Neither am I, for that matter. Arafat’s line about how “even the prophets made mistakes” sounds more like an egotistical attempt for Arafat to compare himself to a prophet than anything else. I guess megalomania comes with the territory for dictators. Whatever.

LGF has the Muslim self-congratulations for vote influence in Canada, which is a logical follow-up to some of what I posted before the election.

Damian has some thoughts about the backlash against Springsteen for participating in the concerts for John Kerry. I think he nails the issue – it’s silly to boycott all celebs for their political views unless they’re extreme. But if people want to boycott, or to criticize, that’s part of freedom of speech as well. Personally I wish celebs would butt out of politics and stick to their areas of expertise, but I know that’s about as likely to happen as peace in the middle east.

And finally, a shout-out to the newest link on my blogroll, Autonomous Source. Bruce is a blogger from right here in Quebec, and definately worth a read.

Lynn B. is taking a break of unknown duration, to try to sort things out:

When I started this blog, it was in the hope that it would help me to make some sense out of the bloodbath being perpetrated against Israel and the inexplicable indifference and even approval with which most of the rest of the world was responding. It’s not working. In fact, my attempts to keep on top of events and to interpret their implications are only turning me into a bigger bundle of nerves than I was before.

[ . . . ]

At any rate, this is a roundabout way of saying that I’m taking a mental health break of uncertain duration. I’m hopefully going to be spending more time in the garden and actually talking face-to-face with people and less time in front of this box. Maybe that will help. We’ll see.

Lynn’s commentary is some of the most sensible on the web. And I for one will miss her.

But as for trying to explain the inexplicable, well, I sympathize. Sometimes the world just seems so nuts and upside-down, it’s challenging to my sanity to even blog about it. So I take breaks. I focus on work. I hang out with friends, see stupid movies, read paperbacks, travel, go out, visit family, and do other normal everyday events of my life.

Somehow, though, I keep coming back. The world isn’t going to make any more sense than it did before, but maybe it’s about the small triumphs, the accomplishments that in some tiny way do help to make sense of even one sliver of the world. Or maybe it’s just an addiction. In any case, I have a sneaking suspicion (and a hope) that Lynn will be back soon.

As suspected, most of the major news outlets gave the North Korea story (see below) a cursory, back-page treatment.

I implored the blogosphere to do better. And some, at least, have.

Damian Penny wrote about the “People’s Democratic Republic of Death Camps”. David Janes astutely observed that “there’s no obvious way to blame the US for this, so it’s not really happening, is it?”. Lynn B. urges us to read up and talk about it. Meryl Yourish has a brilliantly-written post entitled “North Korea is Not Our Problem”.

I’ll update this throughout the day with (hopefully) more. Let’s not allow this to become a one-day headline.

Update: Paul Jané finds the words that failed me. Jonathan is feeling “curiously dispassionate”… which I find interesting in light of my reaction to the story, which was more emotional than even I expected. And Spin Killer weighs in.

A close call for Meryl Yourish and I don’t blame her for being freaked out. Paul recounts his struggle to explain technology to octogenarians. And Damian contemplates life on Mars. (I can think of a few people we could ship there to start colonizing the place, personally. Though I doubt if a spaceship with Michael Moore AND Pat Buchanan would make it to Mars with everyone on board still alive.)

From Israel, Harry has a prayer that you won’t find in any traditional siddur. And Allison has Hamas’s particular brand of “feminism”.

David and Lynn disagree on the appropriateness of the Israeli ambassador’s response to the disgusting “Snow White” art exhibit in Sweden glorifying a Palestinian suicide bomber. Judith posted reactions from a number of other bloggers on the same subject. And Mike Silverman has the poster that puts a whole new meaning on the closing of the Passover seder.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

While I’ve been procrastinating, others have been posting.

Damian has the latest on the politician who just won’t leave office, and Paul has a few thoughts on the corruption within the Liberal government under said politician’s leadership. Steve has the shoot-an-FLQ-terrorist video game . . . and the offended reaction of a bunch of separatists with way too much time on their hands. And Occam’s Toothbrush has a link to a George Jonas story in the National Post on the real problem in the Palestinian society. (You’ll note that, unlike Jonas’s horribly sexist article on why women should be flattered to be groped by Arnold Schwarzenegger, this article has a web link).

Allison has a few thoughts on how the Israeli government can step up its PR by recognizing the contribution of bloggers to the pro-Israel effort. Lynn has a brutally honest article by what passes for a “human rights activist” in Jordan (read: someone who wants to destroy Israel). And Imshin helps Lynn figure out what Israeli turkeys say. (Personally, judging by the menus at most Israeli restaurants I’ve ever been at, I’d guess they probably say something like “I don’t want to be schnitzel!”)