Aggression by Israel and it's covering up by the US media

These days, media, both electronic and print, are the only interface through which the masses look at various momentous events around the world. It takes no time to infer how much power the media wield in shaping up public mind, in influencing them to make their decisions and judgments. Now think of the scenario when the entire media are systematically hijacked to carry out a propaganda campaign for a particular group or purpose. So you no longer have access to the facts. In the words of Don Maclean, it is time to sing then,

"Bye bye Miss American Pie
....
....
That'll be day that I die".

Please set aside some of your precious tme-- it's worth it-- to watch the following video clip in entirety to know how the masters of the wars are cooldbloodedly denying the public some true realities of the recent middle-east crisis to suit their purposes of legitimizing the wars. I'm sure this clip is also not much publicized in the mainstream media. Nevertheless, I try to keep an open mind. If you really have some counter-points against what is shown on the video, do not hesitate to vent your protest in the comments section.

What some people say about this War

This is an open letter by a group of people, none of who, I think needs any introduction to call attention to their thinking capabilities. You may visit the link too to read the following letter.

"Thursday, July 27, 2006

A letter from Chomsky and others on the recent events in the Middle East (July 19, 2006):

The latest chapter of the conflict between Israel and Palestine began when Israeli forces abducted two civilians, a doctor and his brother, from Gaza. An incident scarcely reported anywhere, except in the Turkish press. The following day the Palestinians took an Israeli soldier prisoner - and proposed a negotiated exchange against prisoners taken by the Israelis - there are approximately 10,000 in Israeli jails.


That this "kidnapping" was considered an outrage, whereas the illegal military occupation of the West Bank and the systematic appropriation of its natural resources - most particularly that of water - by the Israeli Defence (!) Forces is considered a regrettable but realistic fact of life, is typical of the double standards repeatedly employed by the West in face of what has befallen the Palestinians, on the land alloted to them by international agreements, during the last seventy years.


Today outrage follows outrage; makeshift missiles cross sophisticated ones. The latter usually find their target situated where the disinherited and crowded poor live, waiting for what was once called Justice. Both categories of missile rip bodies apart horribly - who but field commanders can forget this for a moment?


Each provocation and counter-provocation is contested and preached over. But the subsequent arguments, accusations and vows, all serve as a distraction in order to divert world attention from a long-term military, economic and geographic practice whose political aim is nothing less than the liquidation of the Palestinian nation.


This has to be said loud and clear for the practice, only half declared and often covert, is advancing fast these days, and, in our opinion, it must be unceasingly and eternally recognised for what it is and resisted.



Tariq Ali
Russell Banks
John Berger
Noam Chomsky
Richard Falk
Eduardo Galeano
Charles Glass
Naomi Klein
W.J.T. Mitchell
Harold Pinter
Arundhati Roy
Jose Saramago
Giiuliana Sgrena
Gore Vidal
Howard Zinn"

Antarmahal

In my opinion, it is just an erotic movie. Entire movie is available on youtube. Click the title.

Tears dried...

To the Israeli War Hawks,
You may be winning the battles but definitely losing the wars.....

Two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped. In retaliation, Israel employed all their sophisticated air-force, infantry, and modern precision weapons ...
Results :

1. Three airports bombed

2. 62 bridges destroyed

3. Three dams and ports hit

4. 5,000 homes damaged
(all in Lebanon)
To quote a reader on BBC,
"In my opinion Israel is not destroying Hezbollah - they are making it stronger"

The situation in Lebanon is now conducive enough to breed more and more future "terrorists".

Ritwik: Not Just Hot and a Hunk

Rush.

Sweet Love

Amardeep, undoubtedly one of my favorite bloggers, never fails to call our attention to all the nice things around the world. Here is the story of a marriage which was made in heaven.

Obesity once more

In this weblog, I once talked about the ailments originating from obesity here. Another post discussing a different issue related to obesity.

HP Announces Tiny Wireless Memory Chip of the size of a grain of rice

Here.

Israel-Lebanon conflict

The situation is going from bad to worse. It feels so hopeless that I even lost the desire to engage in any debate and shout anti-war slogans. Now-a-days, news of wars only sends me into silent contemplation. Because I know it is of no use to get emotional and try to prove a point in a stormy debate to a friend on that very cliched subject as to why in a war both the warring sides emerge losers, therefore it is insane to go to that. I feel hopelessly tired. I learnt with certainty over time that debates, arguments, discussions perhaps can never stop war, reconciling myself to the fact that cruelty is intrinsic to human nature. Sooner or later it is going to come out. Tell me when in the history of civilization there had been no wars which were not overrun by intense cruelty, widespread violence, excruciating butchery. So please don't tell me now that there is still some reason that I should believe in God. I'm still not very sure how I worked up some force within, to write down the following stanza from one of the most soulful songs that I have heard, voice lent by Joan Baez and written by Bob Dylan.

Oh what did you see, my blue-eyed son?
Oh what did you see, my darling young one?
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it,
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it,
I saw a black branch with blood that kept dripping,
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a bleeding,
I saw a white ladder all covered with water,
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken,
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children,

And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

P.S. The situation is much more appalling now. Israel are now on the full offensive. We all know that this is an unfair war. Considering the huge military and technological edge the Israelis, backed by the US, have over Lebanon and their well known attitude of belligerence, I'm very much concerned about the fate of the common people in Lebanon. They are surely going to suffer massive loss both human and material if not totally leveled to the ground. Not only that, it seems it would have many undesirable ramifications like other Arab countries joining in, the US again trying to play a big brother distabilizing the equilibrium of the region. Ironically, I have two close acquaintances (needless to say very nice guys that they are) in Haifa, Israel (which has the famous Technion University) which was first attacked by Hezbollah which operate from Lebanon. I'm also seriously concerned about them. One of them, who is an exceptionally talented young scientist, is supposed to join us in a month or so. But in the present condition, they are held back by the Israeli Govt. to perform military duties. Hell.

P.P.S. They (some people in Haifa) are now given wartime shelter by the government.

J.A.P solved the mystery finally beyond doubt

Zizou again-- the volcano, lava

He rules...

France loves you --- we too

For the time being let us just forget what an incredible magician you are with the football. Let us take the opportunity to show our deep respect to you for the extraordinary restraint and calmness you showed despite this. Generations to come will forever remember you for the indomitable courage you displayed throughout your life against all the humiliations meted out to you.

A humanist

I think I was barely 10 years old then. A movie was being played on the TV and nobody was, in fact, watching, mother was busy feeding the younger brother, father was, perhaps, not home. On top of that, it was a foreign language movie which none of us could understand, black and white, and a very poor quality print. So the situation was overwhelmingly ripe to change the channel immediately or switch off the TV. But, there were some elements which I was unable to detect at such a young age, however, remained glued to the TV and watched it till the curtain was rung down. Now, one can imagine how great the movie must have been to hold even the attention of a ten year old for hours, despite the language constraints and poor audio and video quality. The story of the movie was narrated in an extremely simplistic cinematic language, the acting was extraordinarily smooth, and the plot was utterly easy to follow. So you never fail to be touched by the poignancy of the story when a father and a five year old son, sitting on the street, looking at each other, do not know what to do when the bicycle they borrowed from a pawnbroker is stolen on the very first day of the job. Your heart collapses when you see that the father looks more childish and helpless than the infant at the unexpected theft of their bicycle. A different layer of human relation emerges through the movie and passes through your mind seamlessly, yet it is portrayed in a very simple manner. Such was the genius of Vittorio De Sica to be able to conquer the audience without using any deadly weapons. Surely you have understood that the movie I was talking about is The bicycle thief.

Today is Vittorio De Sica’s 104^th birth anniversary.

Harmony

Mumbai rains brought these two species so close.

Mouse: Thanks Ma'am, you are so nice and kind.
Frog: Welcome, dude. You are nice too:) But not very kind, clip your claws regularly; it scratches. :(

Stolen from National Geographic site, link courtesy Annie's Weblog.

WINDOWS MEDIA COPY PROTECTION CRACKED!!!

This is, of course, not the first time that we witness the security issues are so loosely handled in the research labs of Microsoft. Here is the latest humiliation on their part. Read.

So finally, France and Italy

I just do not know whether there was any soccer expert around the world except me who could predict this kind of WC final.

World Cup is over for me...

To hell with my predictions .... If I meet Alberto Parreira, I will ask him with utmost politeness,
(although my heart will reverberate with the f-word), "Saar, does your wife have a crush on Robinho?"

Please tell us, what other reason it could be, that you did not play Robinho from the beginning. Kaka was evidently unfit. Didn't you see how afraid he was to slide and shoot and he let the ball go in such situations; something that one cannot afford in a knock-out stage. You played Ronaldinho at the wrong position who loves to play right in the middle just a few yards behind the upfront players. He is a game maker. You pushed him far to the left. Ronaldo is fat, overweight therefore, cannot turn and run. Considering the French defense which is, in my opinion, the best in this tournament, did it ever occur to you that to make empty space inside the French penetrative zone you need a player who is agile, fast, turns a lot, creative and a huge shooter. Any amateurish footballer knows that French defenders will not give any empty space that Ronaldo needs in his present condition to shoot and score a goal. One has to create such space on his own amidst the jungle of defenders to be able to score. You had such a weapon, saar, in your armory unlike many other coaches. You wasted him. You know who he is. You played him just for the last 10 minutes and you saw the difference.

I don't blame you for depriving us of spectacular football which we wait for, for long four years. You killed the football sir. You killed it.


OK. I'm amazed to watch Zinedine Zidane, even at this age, influence the game in such a big way. He is the best today. He moved like a lion in the midfield dwarfing the Brazilians. One of the most responsible and respectable footballers of all time. Today he played perhaps better than what he did in the 1998 final where he himself scored a brace. Thuram, Henry, Vierra, Barthez, accept my kudos. You gave fitting responses to your detractors who tried to tag you as old horses. You guys really played unimaginable. As a football lover, although I wished Brazil to win, you in all departments outplayed them. This is totally a well-deserved win for you.

Positive points for me: I'm not going to waste time watching the semi-finals and final. During that time I shall complete my thesis which remained stuck since the WC started, by hook or by crook. World Cup is over for me. Bye bye Germany 2006.

New set of predictions..

Somewhere on the weblog a few days ago, I made some predictions about World Cup results, but with Germany winning against Argentina, I've already ended up having dozens of rotten eggs splattered on my face. However, never daunted, I will now present a new set of predictions. The problem is that the team you love may not be the team you should bet on. So here goes my well-thought, deep-researched set of predictions.

Quarter finals:

Teams ------------------------- Winner
------------------------------------------
1. England Vs Portugal ------> Portugal
2. Brazil Vs France -----------> Brazil

Semi-finals:

1. Germany Vs Italy ----------> Italy
2. Brazil Vs Portugal ----------> Brazil

Final:

Brazil Vs Italy -----------------> Brazil

If you win bets based on my predictions, I won't mind accepting half of your earned money. Please don't forget me. I spent a lot of sleepless nights researching before coming up with these gems of predictions.