Category: Politics & government

One of the great figures of our times, for better or for worse, passes away in Paris, France. And it is said, to pass away in Ramadan is truly a blessing by God.

Yasser Arafat was a good man but he was never effective in reaching the much needed peace. Now, perhaps peace can be achieved, if the PLO doesn’t crumble under its own weight. And hopefully, somebody with the right kind of mind, probably Prime Minister Qurei, will pursue a peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestine. Peaceful coexistence between these two states is the only solution to this age old conflict.

With Israel is currently voluntarily withdrawing from a number of areas, the Palestinians and the Arabs need to emulate such gesture. War cannot possibly go on forever. The killing must stop, the hatred must end.

All other Muslim nations need to realize this, regardless the history of the creation of Israel. What has passed has passed. We need to move on and build a new future.

May God bless him.

I received an email through some organization that I am affiliated with that points to a study that was done by ustogether.org. The study is at “Surprising Pattern of Florida’s Election Results“.

The result seems odd though I must admit, I don’t know the credibility of the website simply because I haven’t heard of it before. Furthermore, the website certainly takes a biased position. At the same time, I’m not trying to be a sore loser but the finding of the study does raise some questions that need to be answered.

I highly doubt this would change the result of the recent election but it would be interesting if somebody prominent takes the issue up and rolling.

The days after November 2 feel different. There seems to be a lack of something but still, everything that I wanted to change, from the person that is sitting in the Oval Office to the policies regarding the environment, is still in place. That lack of something is seeing Kerry talking, hearing his boring voice. It pains me to see Kerry going into oblivion while Bush and the rightist fundamentalists are rising higher still.

I still can’t believe that Kerry lost, even though before Ohio started calling, even before Florida stays red, even before half of the result was announced, there was hunch that was as clear as the Tahitian waters, that Kerry was fighting a losing battle. It is the feeling of seeing the Netherlands being beaten through penalty shootouts by the Italian after all the possession and flair two European Championships ago. It is feeling of a great injustice after all that had been said and done.

Despite blunder in Iraq, regardless of the fallout from the world community, in the face of lies imitating the truth and the truth continues to be pushed aside, there are still millions of people siding with the current administration. It is a great frustration that transcends far beyond words. Perhaps this is what Voltaire had forseen long ago.

I trust that nearly half of the American people feel the same along with, perhaps, majority of the citizens of the world as it is evident with the Mirror’s “How can 59,017,382 people be so dumb?” front page and so many others. That feeling could not be more pronounced than the words written in the New York Times. Its editorial columns are filled with angry paragraphs and depressed sentences save anything that comes from Mr. Safire and Mr. Brooks and their fans.

Four more years of Bush sounds too harsh for many. I know it is too harsh for me.

America is supposed to be the bastion of secularism but regretfully, the rightist fundamentalists, which are no better than those Islamic extremists, are gaining ground. It is funny and ironic as well that wherever we may be, two species of the same class are there to be fought. Both species of fundamentalist are trying to crush each other while we are in a quagmire, continuously shouting and telling them to stop and think.

p/s – And, some of you better memorize “O Canada”, eh?