Please Help Victims of the Earthquake

If you haven't helped the victims of tsunami please help them by giving a few dollars! It does not have to be a huge amount of money. It has to be something. Even $5 can make a difference. So, I beg you to do that!

Ali Karimi

Have a look at this video and see how this Iranian superstar plays soccer!

National Geographic Explains its Decision

National Geographic Gives up

If the title of this post doesn't make sense to you go ahead and have a look at this! NG removed the name Arabian Gulf next to the Persian Gulf, however they included a description as follows: "Historically and most commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is referred to by some as the Arabian Gulf." Here are the previous and current maps, respectively:





Another controversial name used by NG was the name of Iranian island, Kish. NG had called that Qeys! As an Iranian I had never heard of that name before NG used that. They had used an alternative name for another Iranian island, namely Lavan. Both names "Qeys" and "Sheykh Sho'eyb" are Arabic names. Here are the photos:





This is not all NG did. They even called three Iranian islands, Abu Musa, Greater and Lesser Tonbs as "occupied by Iran(Claimed by U.A.E.)"!





I think it was clear from the begining that all what they did was politically motivated and it had nothing to do with professionalism!

Here you may see the previous and current maps.
P.S. (29 Dec at 11 AM): NG changed its map back to the old version!!

P.P.S.(29 Dec, 2:40 PM): Here is another map that I found in their website. No sign of Arabian Gulf. However three other mistakes are remained. Have a look!



P.P.P.S.(30 Dec 3:25 PM) Again they removed "Arabian Gulf" and added the above explenation and the rest of the story is as I wrote before!

Merry Christmas

Challanges

There you go again, President Bush and English language!!



My mother tongue is not English-as it is apparent from my writings!- so this story gives me some confidence when I am writing! I got the story from my friend.

44 Percent of Americans Believe Muslim Americans Should be Restricted

Just because they happened to observe the "same" religion as Osama does?!

Senator Collins Joins McCain

Republican Senator Susan Collins from Maine criticizes Rumsfeld. It seems Rumsfeld's time is over!

P.S. Republican Senator Lott from Mississippi also criticized Rumsfeld, however White House continues defending him.

Here is the whole news from Yahoo!

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House defended embattled Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld against a rising tide of criticism from President George W. Bush's Republican allies in the US Congress.

"The president believes Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a great job, and that's why he asked him to continue serving during this time of war,"

spokesman Scott McClellan said.

"We must continue to use all means on all fronts to defeat the terrorists. And Secretary Rumsfeld is an important person in our efforts to prevail in this global struggle of ideologies,"

said the spokesman.

Asked whether Bush was aware that prominent Republicans were increasingly questioning Rumsfeld's fitness for office, McClellan replied: "We look at the news just like you do."

Republican Senators John McCain, who was a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam, Chuck Hagel, a fellow veteran and longtime Rumsfeld critic, and others have criticized Rumsfeld publicly this week.

The tone sharpened markedly following remarks last week by Rumsfeld during a visit with troops in Kuwait, where he had a difficult exchange with a soldier who asked about the lack of armor for US military vehicles in Iraq.

"You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time,"

the defense secretary said in comments widely quoted in the US media.

P.P.S. By the way, my post script is longer than the original text!!

Rumsfeld

It could seem a stupid prediction, but I feel like Rumsfeld should not and will not be confirmed by the Senate!! However it is probable that Bush doesn't nominate Rumsfeld if he thinks that Rumsfeld would not win the confirmation!

Googlism

It is an interesting site. Just enter a name, choose the category and press enter. By searching your query in the Google it gives you interesting information about the word, some of them are funny! Let us try Bush!

Bush is the antichrist. Bush is the bomb. Bush is irrelevant and must go....

Yushchenko Was Poisoned

The picture on the right is taken only a few months after the one on the left!

U.S. money helped opposition in Ukraine

GI Admits to Killing Hurt Iraqi Teenager

Reform in Iran

The following quote is take from BBC Persian.

ناله های پايانی مردی که شانه هايش توان اين بار سنگين را نداشت و چشمهايش سوی ديدن فراسو را و ذهنش يارای درک بزرگی حادثه را... پايان بازی بزرگ برای مردی کوچک

It is a viewpoint of an Iranian under the name Ali from Tehran who described the speech given by Khatami quite beautifully. This really says pretty much everything of what happened to Khatami in these eight years! It is really hard to translate it into English but I try my best:

The final groans of a man whose shoulders couldn't carry that heavy weight and whose eyes couldn't see far away, and whose brain couldn't get the greatness of the event[i.e. the election of Khatami in 1997 which was a surprise with the support of almost 70% of Iranians]...the end of a huge game for a small man.

However we have to have this in our mind that Khatami is a very tolerant person. We have to admit that there is no third world country that you can shout at your president and chant at him "Shame on you!", "You didn't deserve our vote" while he is sitting just a few feet from you! and that is what the Iranian students did a few days ago! Even as some people report there were some students that shouted at him "Stupid!" and some others swore at him and didn't let him start speaking.
Anyway, the main question to be answered is what will happen to the reforms? and of course the answer is no one knows! We lost the opportunities that shouldn't have been lost, and now...?! I just don't know...

Khatami: Iran's Democratic Reforms Failed

The same news from BBC

Harsh Words for Justice Clarence Thomas

In an interview with NBC's Meet the Press Sen. Reid the newly re-elected Senator from Nevada and the new minority leader harshly criticized justice Thomas, the only black justice of the supreme court who is against affirmative action.

"I think that he has been an embarrassment to the Supreme Court"

Sen. Reid said. However Sen. Reid said that he would support Justice Antonin Scalia if he were nominated for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Funding for the National Science Foundation was cut by nearly 2 percent or $105 million

Rumsfeld to remain in Cabinet

Why? Because he did a "superb job" of...!

If you want to get rid of registration on the websites like NY Times visit here!

Have you noticed that the google bomb targeting Weapons of Mass Destruction and WMD has fallen from the first place? However still so many Americans(for instance Senator Ted Stevens from Alaska) believe that there are and there were WMDs in Iraq.

November was the Bloodiest Month for the US Forces in Iraq

World AIDS Day, December 1st

I have no idea why Google chose as the symbol for World AIDS day.

Barghouti to Seek Palestinian Presidency

Marwan Barghouti,45, is convicted of involving in 5 murders and is serving 5 life terms(+some 40 years) in an Israeli prison. After talking to Mahmoud Abbas a few days ago he announced that he would not run for presidency. However now he decided to run for president of Palestine. Israeli officials said that they would not free him from the jail even if he is elected. Israeli officials said that if the Palestinians elect him as their president it shows that they are not ready for peace. He is considered as one of the leaders of the Fatah movement. He fluently speaks English, Hebrew and of course Arabic,as his mother tongue. He learnt Hebrew while he was in an Israeli jail. He was a critical of Arafat and his political corruption.

In this article published in Washington Post he describes himself as follows:

I am not a terrorist, but neither am I a pacifist. I am simply a regular guy from the Palestinian street advocating only what every other oppressed person has advocated -- the right to help myself in the absence of help from anywhere else.

Marwan Barghouti's Profile.

The same news from BBC

Red Cross Finds Detainee Abuse in Guantánamo

This is an old news but related to the above story.

They (released documents) show that in December 2002, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld approved the use of techniques, such as the use of guard dogs to instill fear in detainees, stripping detainees nude, and the use of painful stress positions, that violate the law.

HRW Website.

Lets consider the following quote also.

We now know that at the highest levels of the Pentagon there was a shocking interest in using torture and a misguided attempt to evade the criminal consequences of doing so. If anyone still thinks the abuses at Abu Ghraib were only dreamed up by a handful of privates and sergeants, this memo should put that myth to rest.

Kenneth Roth Executive Director, Human Rights Watch

Have you seen sorryeverybody.com? have a look at apologiesaccepted.com!

UN plan demands more intervention

Make sure to look at the "see also" column on the right.

from sorryeverybody.com

American Public v. Iraq War

The latest Gallup poll shows that:

* Overall, 47% say the initial decision to send troops to Iraq was a mistake, while 51% say it was not.

* Less than a majority, 48%, "favor the U.S. war with Iraq," while 46% oppose it.

* Just 44% say the United States and its allies are currently winning the war, while 46% say neither side is winning, and another 7% say the insurgents are winning. Still, this is a more positive response than last month, when only 35% said the United States and its allies were winning the war. The higher percentage could reflect the recent news reports about U.S. troops re-establishing control over Fallujah.

* A plurality of Americans, 49%, think the United States "will not be able to establish a stable democratic government in Iraq," while 46% say it will.

Iran Bars National Geographic Over Map Dispute

The National Geographic Atlas of the world named Persian Gulf by Arabian Gulf in its latest edition. In addition to that they have called three islands in the Persian Gulf officially known as territories of Iran as "occupied by Iran". As far as I know there has never been any dispute over those three islands until a few years ago that UAE claimed those islands. However I am not aware of details. In protest to that Iranian bloggers decided to achieve a Google bomb targeted the phrase Arabian Gulf. Here you can find the detailed map published by NGA.

P.S. It seems that Iranian bloggers succeeded. The website "Arabian Gulf" appears as the first entry of Google when you search for Arabian Gulf.

BBC's news about the googlebomb

Other websites targeting the same phrase: Arabian Gulf, Arabian Gulf, Arabian Gulf

P.P.S. Here is a snapshot of the page, protesting Arabian gulf.

51% of Democrats Want Centrist in 2008

Source of Powell's Iran intelligence under scrutiny

A Quote from Thomas Jefferson

"There is not a truth existing which I fear or would wish unknown to the whole world."

Thomas Jefferson to Henry Lee.


Here you can find more quotes from the third President of the United States.

6 NATO Allies Refuse to Help U.S. in Iraq

The six nations are Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg and Greece. Do you think it is a good idea to stay out instead of stepping in and changing the dynamics on the ground(if at all possible!)?!

1 2 3 and finally Specter wins support for chairmanship

Pictures from Fallujah

It is a weblog containing some pictures from Fallujah. Note that some of the pictures are very disturbing.

Specter may pledge quick judicial votes

The first and second parts of this story. And it continues...

Most Americans Have Unfavorable Opinion of France

Rasmussnreports' poll shows that:

57% of American voters have an unfavorable view of France.
25% have a favorable opinion of France.

31% of Americans believe France is the US enemy in the War on Terror.
22% believe France is the US ally.
43%, believe that France's role is somewhere in between ally and enemy.

78% of Americans have a favorable opinion of Great Britain.
9% have an unfavorable view of GB.
83% of Americans view UK as the US ally in the War on Terror.

No Charges In Iraq Photo Flap

Kuwait Advances to the Next Round

This is very odd in soccer! Kuwait advances to the second round of the World Cup 2006 Qualifiers with the narrowest margin. Both teams got 15 points. In the head-to-head games they both got a 1-0 victory. In addition to that they both have the same goal average! The only advantage of Kuwait is that they scored 1 goal more than China in the six-game tournament!!

AP Photographer Flees Fallujah Witnesses US Helicopter Kill Fleeing Family of 5

Chirac questions US-led Iraq war

"I'm not at all sure that one can say that the world is safer"

Chirac said.

Does Chirac understand the situation better or these statement are just for not having a share in the war?!! Anyway, what is practically important is what they say not what their intension is!

US Marine Kills an Apparently Unarmed Injured Iraqi

How many murders like this (a complete-and hence disturbing- video) has happened in Iraq, and the cameras missed them?

Sorryeverybody.com

As you may have seen or heard by now there is a website called sorryeverybody.com designed to apologize from the rest of the world because of the election of George Bush. The following picture is taken for that website. Have a look!

Jews Against Zionism

It is sort of almost new to me!!

Hard Lesson in Battle: 150 Marines Meet 1 Sniper

As far as I remember Rumsfeld, in a press conference that I can not find a link to that!, estimated the number of "insurgents" in Iraq a few thousands. Now they claim that they have killed 1000 insurgents. If this administration tells the truth -as it always does- we are very close to the end of insurgency. If that is the case, we are almost done!(In fact these are not a part of "the major combat operation" this was over more than a year ago.) However to get to this point thousands of civilians have been killed.

For future reference!

Have a look at this video. It is interesting!

Urban Warfare

BBC's website is perfect! If you want to know some information about the fight in Fallujah click here!

I added this link as number 6 to this post!

Have you ever heard President Bush saying: "Freedom is on the march"? Freedom of demonstration? Yes, you are free to demonstrate and the US soldiers are free to kill you! I add this to the same post.

Tony Blair's Remarks on President Bush's Election

The following is taken from a recent interview of the Time newspaper with Tony Blair.

“President Bush is there for four years. In a way some people are in a sort of state of denial. The election has happened, America has spoken, the rest of the world should listen.”

He did, however, add:

“It is important that America listens to the rest of the world, too.[!]”

I don't think there was just one single reason for election of Bush. However I don't understand why these people(1-2) try to deny that the most important issue to Americans was "Moral Values"! Are they ashamed of that?!

Does Sen. Specter says he would not slow anti-abortion court nominees because he doesn't want to lose his job as the head of senate judiciary committee?!

Ed Gillespie, Chairman of Republican National Committee, claims that Republicans will get 30% of African-American votes in 2008.

Rasmussenreports.com compares its pre-election polls with the actual results of the election if they are really telling the truth (!!) they have done a great job.

Before the election, some political analysts said: "There would be a revolution inside the Republican party beginning November third if Bush wins the election". Now we can see signs of that so-called revolution. Senator Specter who is a moderate Republican and a pro-choice Senator who helped kill President Reagan's nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court and of Jeff Sessions to a federal judgeship, speaks out.

"When you talk about judges who would change the right of a woman to choose, overturn Roe vs. Wade, I think that is unlikely

"The president is well aware of what happened, when a number of his nominees were sent up, with the filibuster

"And I would expect the president to be mindful of the considerations which I am mentioning."

As CNN reports the important point is that Sen. Specter "would have wide latitude to schedule hearings, call for votes and make the process as easy or as hard as he wants."

P.S. This article is in the same subject and is worth-reading.

I think whoever wins two out of three states of FL, PA, and OH will win the election. Here is what I think. Kerry will win PA and FL, and therefore will win the electoral college!

Bush v. Life

I personally am not absolutely pro-choice since the life of the baby is important to me! However I don't understand how some people can be pro-life in the case of abortion but when it comes to innocent civilians' lives... mmm I don't understand how they think!

To clarify what I mean let us check the followings.

1(from BBC)
2(make sure to watch the video)
3
4(watch the video)
5(video #2, after 7th min.)
6
7

Al Gore's Speech

Al Gore gave a speech in Washington, DC yesterday. It didn't have anything less than his previous speech in another event funded by MoveOn.Org! I highly recommend watching the speech on c-span, however I have never been able to watch any videos on c-span's website, since it is almost always very slow and virtually not possible to watch their videos!

Noam Chomsky, in an open letter, asks voters in swing states to vote for Kerry.

Did you know that the value of one vote in Wyoming in a presidential election is equal to the value of 3.75 votes in California, provided the turnout percentage in those states are the same?

I don't know how reliable this statistics is but it is worth reading!

New Round of Attacks on Kerry's Comments

It is absolutely obvious-of course for me!-that Kerry is not going to endanger the security of the United States. As a matter of fact his policies seem more reasonable in reducing terrorism. In an interview with New York Times Magazine he said and I quote:

We have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they're a nuisance.

He continues by saying:

As a former law-enforcement person, I know we're never going to end prostitution. We're never going to end illegal gambling. But we're going to reduce it, organized crime, to a level where it isn't on the rise. It isn't threatening people's lives every day, and fundamentally, it's something that you continue to fight, but it's not threatening the fabric of your life.

As a result Bush campaign launched a new attack on Kerry.

What is really missing in politics is morality. It seems to me that changing the facts, misleading the public, taking sentences out of context, telling lies as much as possible, personal attacks that are almost always wrong is what the campaigns are based on! Where are the people who claim they are against personal attacks? Where is Sen. McCain who claims to be against personal attacks and misleading the public? Do you see any piece of morality left in the politics?!! Does politics go in the right direction?!

Bush Forgets He Owns a Tree-Growing Company

Last night Bush denied that he owns a timber company and claimed that it is news to him.

BUSH: I own a timber company?

(LAUGHTER)

That's news to me.

(LAUGHTER)

Need some wood?

(LAUGHTER)

Source: CNN

Lets see what FactCheck.Org says about Bush's claim that he doesn't own a timber company.

So Bush was wrong to suggest that he doesn't have ownership of a timber company. And Kerry was correct in saying that Bush's definition of "small business" is so broad that Bush himself would have qualified as a "small business" in 2001 by virtue of the $84 in business income.

Some of Kerry's claims were not correct as the same article states, but I was really curious to know if Kerry was right regarding the timber company.

FactCheck.Org

It is an interesting website. When you enter the website you see Holding Politician Accountable which is something that in my view we desperately need. Below that is a statement from former Democratic Senator from New York, Daniel Patrick Moynihan:

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts.

There is an article in FactCheck.Org entitled: Bush Ad Twists Kerry's Words on Iraq which is about a Bush ad. In the Bush ad Kerry is shown saying

It was the right decision to disarm Saddam Hussein, and when the President made the decision I supported him.

In fact there is something missing here and that is the statement before the above sentence in Kerry's answer to George Stephanopoulos's question. Lets look at the whole conversation between Kerry and George Stephanopoulos as stated in FactCheck.Org:

Q: And Senator Kerry, the first question goes to you. On March 19th, President Bush ordered General Tommy Franks to execute the invasion of Iraq. Was that the right decision at the right time?

Kerry: George, I said at the time I would have preferred if we had given diplomacy a greater opportunity, but I think it was the right decision to disarm Saddam Hussein, and when the President made the decision, I supported him, and I support the fact that we did disarm him.

Another Kerry's statement that is taken out of context in Bush ad is the following:

I have always said we may yet even find weapons of mass destruction.

Let me quote the following paragraph from FactCheck.Org. You may judge yourself!

Nine months of fruitless searching have gone by since Kerry said on Dec. 14, 2003 that weapons of mass destruction might yet be found in Iraq. But what's most misleading about the Bush ad's editing is that it takes that remark out of a long-winded -- but still consistent -- explanation of Kerry's overall position on Iraq:

The exchange was on Fox News Sunday, with host Chris Wallace:

Q: But isn't it, in a realistic political sense going to be a much harder case to make to voters when you have that extraordinary mug shot of Saddam Hussein...looking like he's been dragged into a police line-up?

Kerry: Absolutely not, because I voted to hold Saddam Hussein accountable. I knew we had to hold him accountable. There's never been a doubt about that. But I also know that if we had done this with a sufficient number of troops, if we had done this in a globalized way, if we had brought more people to the table, we might have caught Saddam Hussein sooner. We might have had less loss of life. We would be in a stronger position today with respect to what we're doing.

Look, again, I repeat, Chris, I have always said we may yet even find weapons of mass destruction. I don't know the answer to that. We will still have to do the job of rebuilding Iraq and resolving the problem between Shias and Sunnis and Kurds. There are still difficult steps ahead of us.

The question that Americans want to know is, what is the best way to proceed? Not what is the most lonely and single-track ideological way to proceed. I believe the best way to proceed is to bring other countries to the table, get some of our troops out of the target, begin to share the burden.

Democratic "Rising Star" and Keynote Speaker Would Consider Missile Strike on Iran

One of the arguments made by the Bush administration in invading Iraq was that the policy of Clinton administration towards Iraq was overthrowing Saddam's regime, so in fact-as the Bush administration argued-their policy was a sort of continuation of Clinton's. Does Obama make excuses for Republicans for invading Iran when it is "necessary"?! Your thoughts?

Lets Check the Facts from where Cheney Suggested!

In the VP debate Cheney refered viewers to factcheck.com but actually he meant factcheck.org. Let us look at what factcheck.org says about Halliburton. Right now the site is down(maybe because of too many visitors), but I got these statements from BBC.

"The vice president wrongly implied that we had rebutted allegations Edwards was making about what Cheney had done as chief executive officer of Halliburton. In fact we did post an article pointing out that Cheney hasn't profited personally while in office from Halliburton's Iraq contracts, as falsely implied by a Kerry TV ad."

The article continues,

"Edwards was talking about Cheney's responsibility for earlier Halliburton troubles. And in fact, Edwards was mostly right."

Presidential Debates

A friend asked me to write about presidential debates.

I talked about CPD before. It is not fair that these debates are just two-sided debates. In my opinion CPD rules have to be changed. Their criteria for choosing participants of presidential debates seem unfair. The number of debates is far less than what it should be. Someone like Nader should have the opportunity to discuss those problems that are not important to either of the major candidates, or they don't want to discuss them. Wait! What I'm saying doesn't mean that I'm a Nader supporter. No.No... I'm not. I absolutely disagree with his decision of running for presidency. However I strongly support the change of CPD rules and I discussed some of the alternatives before. Any ways, those changes will not happen very soon and we have to be patient, but we should always have the important issue of changing debate rules and selection criteria in our mind! Lets talk about tonight. mm... I have nothing to say! We should wait and see what happens tonight!

Richard Perle was a political advisor who served in Reagan and Bush administrations.

In September 2003-almost a year ago- he Claimed:

"And a year from now, I'll be very surprised if there is not some grand square in Baghdad that is named after President Bush. There is no doubt that, with the exception of a very small number of people close to a vicious regime, the people of Iraq have been liberated and they understand that they've been liberated. And it is getting easier every day for Iraqis to express that sense of liberation."

Do you think he can say the same statement right now? Can he guarantee that what he expected to happen now will happen in a year from now? Is he surprised now?!

What Does "Serious Consequences" Mean?

Richard Boucher says the invasion of Iraq was legal since the UN resolution stated that if Saddam doesn't comply he will face serious consequences. This comes after Cofi Annan called the US invasion of Iraq illegal. Here is what he said

From our point of view and from the Charter point of view [the war] was illegal.

I'm wondering why does the US government need this war to be legal! Does it mean that whatever they do is legal and they always respect international laws?

A Quote From Gorge H. W. Bush

"Extending the war into Iraq would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. The coalition would instantly have collapsed, the Arabs deserting in anger and other allies pulling out as well. Exceeding the UN's mandate would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the US could still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."

From "Why We Didn't Remove Saddam" by George Bush Sr and Brent Scowcroft, Time Magazine, 1998

Some questions came to my mind! Did the United States "exceed UN's mandate" by invading Iraq? Is it fair if we say that "other allies" supported the war in Iraq? Isn't US an "occupying power" in Iraq right now? Is "human cost of Iraq war" calculable?

Please...please...please do not be offended by this post!!

There is something that I want to share with you about the reaction of a friend of mine to what happened 3 years ago.

I will not forget what that friend told me some days after the 11th of September 2001.

"Let all Americans understand what is going on in the rest of the world. Let them really feel what they have done to citizens of other countries. Let them understand what others feel when Americans bombard cities of other countries and kill civilians. Let them see what "killing innocent people" means."

I really don't agree with what she said and I am 100% against killing civilians. Let me clarify that 9/11 attack was a shameful act of terrorism and in no way I want to defend the disgusting act of killing 3000 innocent people but what I am saying is that there is "some" truth to her argument!! What do you think? I want to ask you and her if Americans really understood what she wanted them to understand?!

Gallup reports a 2-point convention bounce for Bush. A worth mentioning point is that Bush has a 7-point lead among "likely voters" however his lead among "registered voters" decreases to 1 point. That highlights the importance of voter turnout in the coming election.

Presidential Polls

Rasmussen's daily presidential polls show that Bush is ahead of Kerry by 4 to 5 points. But in two other polls, i.e. Time Magazine and Newsweek, there is a significant difference. They suggest that Bush is ahead by a double-digit. Rasmussen Reports explains why there is such a huge difference in these polls.

I just couldn't believe my ears when a reporter from Iraq told Bill Moyers in Now With Bill Moyers that in average US army is attacked sixty times a day in Iraq! I'm just wondering who in Iraq calls them liberators not occupiers! I'm not blaming those soldiers but the guys who sent them there and didn't control their behavior. If it were the case we wouldn't have abuses in Abu Ghuraib. "No one can undo those images" the reporter said.

Arnold talks about Bush's decision but...

Arnold Schwarzenegger, yesterday's actor and today's governor of California, proclaimed that the majority of Americans actually hadn't supported the war in Iraq before it started! It was really shocking to me when I read that. I really couldn't believe my eyes. Amazingly he said

"The President didn't go into Iraq because the polls told him it was popular. As a matter of fact, the polls said just the opposite."

Every single poll that I am aware of showed that going to Iraq was overwhelmingly popular. Here is what Gallup says about popularity of Bush's decision:

"A majority of Americans supported the idea of the invasion of Iraq before Bush made the decision to commence military action in March 2003. Gallup's March 14-15, 2003, poll showed that 64% of Americans favored "invading Iraq with U.S. ground troops in an attempt to remove Saddam Hussein from power," and 57% agreed that the Bush administration "has made a convincing case about the need for the U.S. to take military action against Iraq." A March 17, 2003, CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll asked: "Do you approve or disapprove of Bush's decision to go to war if Saddam Hussein does not leave Iraq in the next 48 hours?" Sixty-six percent of Americans approved; 30% disapproved"

In his not very long speech, this was not the only time that he lied. Just click here to read another shocking lie by the very same person in the very same speech! I don't know what I should call their speeches in RNC. They were full of hatred and personal attacks.

And now look what Arnold said at the begining of his speech:

"Speaking of acting, one of my movies was called "True Lies." It's what the Democrats should have called their convention."

Well, I'm not in a position to defend Democrats but if someone that lies quite clearly at least twice in a speech is not a liar who is a liar then?

P.S.: Some gmail invitations are still left, if you want one hurry up!

Gmails to give away

I have some Gmails to give away. If you want one and dont already have one, just leave a message here and make sure to include your name and email address. I will invite you, so that you can have a 1 GB email. Hope you enjoy using Gmail.

Ian Thorpe

Do you know how much Ian Thorpe trains every day? Here is what the official website of 2004 Olympics says about his training regime:

He does 10 sessions a week, five in the morning and five in the afternoon. His day starts with his alarm going off at 4:17 am and he is in the pool by 5:00 am. He also does two weight training and two boxing sessions each week.

Iranian judoka vs Israeli athlete

An Iranian judoka who won 2001 and 2003 championship withdrew from 2004 Olympics before participating in even a single competition, because he was supposed to fight against an Israeli athlete. The general policy of Iranian government is not to fight against any Israeli athlete since Iran doesn't recognize Israel as a country. In other words Iran doesn't recognize Israel's right to exist. But the interesting point is that if the Iranian judoka refuses to fight against Israeli athlete for political reasons he will face very tough sanctions. To resolve this problem the official reason reported to the International Judo Federation was that he is overweight!!

Filp Flopper

As you know Bush accuses Kerry of being flip flopper. Once Bush said "Thank God that every issue has just 2 sides, otherwise Kerry would take the third side as well!". I was wondering if Bush supporters managed a google bomb or not but actually I faced with Flip-Flopper-in-Chief!! However I'm not sure that is a google bomb since it should be check in different times. You have probably heard of various google bombs in the past. Let me mention some of them: WMD, Worst President, Miserable Failure, Unelectable.

Tom Ridge's Salary!

Although Tom Ridge, Homeland Security Secretary, earns $175700 a year he is not satisfied. He says he needs more money in order to send his children to college. He is considering resignation after the upcoming election. He is going to earn more money in private sector. If he can't afford to send his children to college how can the rest of Americans put their children through college. Your thoughts??

Al Sharpton in DNC

Democracy Now! reports "Sharpton Ignores Bush-Bashing Ban And Slams President For Waging Iraq War". Well, if you still can't believe that just watch his speech and compare that to what he was supposed to say!

Michael Anthony Peroutka

Michael Anthony Peroutka is the candidate of Constitution Party for president. In my opinion he is very right conservative. I don't want to explain his ideas just have a look at his opinions on different issues and see if I'm wrong!

Gun control

I believe that the Second Amendment means what it says. If elected President, I will do everything within my power to ensure that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

It is no coincidence that those jurisdictions which have implemented significant gun control have become cesspools of crime- cesspools which now, sadly, try to blame their problems on freer low-crime pro-gun jurisdictions.

Abortion

I am 100% pro-life, all nine months, no exceptions. In fact, I am so pro-life, that if elected I promise that abortion will end my first day in office.

It is, by the way, within the power of the President to end abortion tomorrow, as I would do my first day in office. Don't let alleged "pro-life" Presidents tell you differently.

Education

Members of the Constitution Party know that the federal government has no business directing the education of children. The United States Constitution, the supreme law of the land, provides no authority for the Department of Education or any of its programs. That's right! The whole thing is unauthorized and ought to be disbanded!

As president of the United States, I promise to do what the Republican Party promised but never delivered – close down the unconstitutional federal Department of Education. Count on it!

As President, I would obey the law, in this case our Constitution. I would immediately move to abolish the Department Of Education and stop all Federal involvement in education. Under my Administration, this illegal Department and the “No Child Left Behind Act” would be left behind. That’s a promise!

Same-Sex Marriage Amendment

First, we do not support any sodomy-based policy, let alone marriage, but the Federal Marriage Amendment is wholly unnecessary, dangerous and inappropriate.

Finally, ask yourself, who is the definer of marriage? Certainly it is not the United States government, nor even the State government. The author and perfector of Marriage is none other than the LORD Almighty.

Immigration

As President, one of my top priorities would be to really secure our borders and deport all individuals who are here illegally.

Law and Government

The very first presupposition of American government is that there exists a Creator God, yet our taxpayer-funded schools teach our children that He either doesn't exist or that they can't mention His name. This attack against the right of the people to acknowledge God is disgraceful and it is un-American. The Constitution Party is committed to an American understanding of law and government- that rights come from God and that it is the purpose of government to secure and defend them.

Taxation

So, if you want the biggest tax cut in history, then I ask you to vote for me. I am the only Presidential candidate who means it when I say: I will obey the Constitution, so help me God...

As President, I would work to repeal the Sixteenth Amendment, abolish the IRS, eliminate the income tax and other Godless forms of taxation such as the property tax and the inheritance tax.

War in Iraq

I, like President Bush, hope that the Iraqi people, and all people, will be free from tyranny. But, unlike President Bush, I realize that, Constitutionally, as President, it would not be my job to use our military to spread 'freedom' everywhere in the world. Unlike President Bush, I, as President, would realize that I had been elected President of the United States, not President of the World.

If elected President, however, I would move immediately to end our involvement in Iraq. I am not one who believes that when you are in a hole you should not be in, you should keep digging.

Except for his opinion on war in Iraq his other ideas are far more conservative than that of Mr. Bush. Am I right?! Hmm... maybe he is just Constitutional. I don't know.

Michael Moore's Open Letter to George Bush

Michael Moore invited George Bush to a screening of Fahrenheit 9/11 in a place near Bush's Ranch. None of cinemas in Crawford, TX allowed Moore to screen his movie, however he decided to screen it at the Crawford Peace House. The screening will be in the parking lot of a football stadium.

Just have a look at the last statement of the letter. It's sooo funny.

Thank you for considering this invitation, and enjoy your vacation, for however long it may last.

Commission on Presidential Debates

CPD is a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization. Its main purpose is to organize presidential and vice presidential debates. It sponsored all presidential debates since 1988. Obviously it is impossible to have every presidential candidate in a debate. CPD has a criteria for selecting candidates for the presidential debates.

Here are their selection criteria:(source)

1. Evidence of Constitutional Eligibility

The CPD's first criterion requires satisfaction of the eligibility requirements of Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution. The requirements are satisfied if the candidate:

a. is at least 35 years of age;

b. is a Natural Born Citizen of the United States and a resident of the United States for fourteen years.

c. is otherwise eligible under the Constitution.

2. Evidence of Ballot Access

The CPD's second criterion requires that the candidate qualify to have his/her name appear on enough state ballots to have at least a mathematical chance of securing an Electoral College majority in the 2004 general election. Under the Constitution, the candidate who receives a majority of votes in the Electoral College, at least 270 votes, is elected President regardless of the popular vote.

3. Indicators of Electoral Support

The CPD's third criterion requires that the candidate have a level of support of at least 15% (fifteen percent) of the national electorate as determined by five selected national public opinion polling organizations, using the average of those organizations' most recent publicly reported results at the time of the determination

There are some organizations trying to put 3rd party candidates into presidential debates. They offer alternative criteria which seem more reasonable.

Their alternatives are:

1. Ask people who they want to see in the presidential debates and see who gets support of 50% or more, OR Having 5% of votes in a national poll.(source)

2. Let every candidate who is on enough state ballots that mathematically can win the election be in the debates. (source)

It seems that their alternatives are more reasonable than what CPD does right now! However CPD says that presidential debates are where the people get to know candidates who have logical chance for being elected. They argue that a presidential debate is not a place that candidates start launching their campaigns.

By the way, here are the sponsors of CPD's previous debates.

Did you know that Lance Armstrong actually opposed the war in Iraq?

Fox advertises its news as "fair and balanced". MoveOn.org put together this piece of movie to show how "fair and balanced" Fox News' Bill O'Reilly is. Check it out it's interesting.

Michael Badnarik

Michael Badnarik is a Candidate for US President from the Libertarian party. I don't know much about him and this party, however I saw his views on C-SPAN. Just have a look at the following paragraphs that he said in response to a question about America's role in Iraq.

First, allow me to dispel a myth. People in the Middle East do not hate us for our freedom. They do not hate us for our lifestyle. They hate us because we have spent many years attempting to force them to emulate our lifestyle.

The U.S. government has meddled in the affairs of the Middle East far too long, always with horrendous results. It overthrew the democratically elected leader of Iran[i.e., Dr. Mohammad Mosaddeq] and replaced him with the Shah. After making Iranians the enemies of Americans, the U.S. government gave weapons, intelligence and money to Iran's mortal adversary, Saddam Hussein. The U.S. government also helped Libyan Col. Qaddafi come to power, propped up the Saudi monarchy and the Egyptian regime, and gave assistance to Osama bin Laden.

Most Americans have forgotten these events. But the people of the Middle East will always remember.

It was because of American troops in Saudi Arabia, lethal sanctions on Iraq, support for states in serious violation of International Law, and siding with Israel in its dispute with the Palestinians to the tune of more than $3 billion per year in taxpayers' funds that terrorist leaders were able to recruit those individuals who caused 3,000 innocent Americans paid the ultimate price on September 11, 2001.

Here you can find his views on other issues.

Senators' Voting Record

You can find the archive of Senators' votes here or here. By having a look at their records one finds out that 3 Democrats and 45 Republicans voted in favor of the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, however 43 Democrats and 6 Republicans including Senator McCain of AR voted against the amendment. The only Independent Senator -Sen. Jeffords from Vermont- voted against the amendment. At the moment there are 48 Democrats, 51 Republicans and just a single Independent in the US Senate.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia that is developed by its visitors. Therefore sometimes the information that you see there is not absolutely correct. However in some degree it is helpful. The interesting point is that it is in over 40 different languages! It also covers current events. So its a source of news as well as an encyclopedia. You can also reflect your own views in the discussion section attached to every article. However I don't know who manages it. Since people could come and delete or destroy articles there must be someone to take care of changes that are made by people.

US Territories

There are 12 US territories. They are Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Midway Islands, Wake Island, Johnston Atoll, Baker, Howland, and Jarvis Islands, Kingman Reef, Navassa Island, Palmyra Atoll.


Palmyra Atoll, Navassa Island, Kingman Reef, "Baker, Howland, and Jarvis Islands", Johnston Atoll, Wake Island, and Midway Islands have virtually no inhabitants and the others have. Puerto Rico with population of 3,897,960 and area of 9,104 sq km is the largest one. What is interesting about Puerto Rico is that Puerto Ricans do not have right to vote. In fact Puerto Rico is a sort of self-ruled commonwealth. It seems to me that Puerto Ricans should have the right to vote at least in presidential elections, since this right is apparently clarified in Amendments XV, XIX, XXIV, XXVI of the US constitution. However the residents of Puerto Rico voted for Commonwealth system in 1993 and as a result they don't have any voting delegates in the Congress and they do not have right to vote in presidential elections. I will talk more about that later.

Homosexuality

A lot of people still think that homosexuality is a disease. In 1973 American Psychological Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental and emotional disorders. According to APA, studies showed that gays and bisexuals can be good parents. Here you can find other some other information about homosexuality.

Peloton

Peloton is the main group of riders in a cycling road race. They try to save energy by riding behind each other.

OLN

It seems to me that OLN(Outdoor Life Network) is officially affiliated to Lance Armstrong. Since the ONLY cyclist that they talk about and interview is Lance!

Amy Goodman vs. President Clinton

The story that I'm going to tell you is based on what I watched on Democracy Now!. This channel is not that popular and to the best of my knowledge it has a one-hour TV program most of the days. Amy Goodman is the host of this channel. On the day of Election 2000 just a few minutes before Amy Goodman starts her daily show at 9 a.m. she gets a call. The caller says "I'm calling from the White House"!! The caller says that President is going to talk to Amy. She replies "President of what?!". The caller says "The President of the United States"! President Clinton is going to talk to Amy. He wants to encourage people to vote. Since this channel is a sort of independent which, I assume, supported Nader it seems to me that Clinton wanted to highlight the differences between Republicans and Democrats and encourage independent voters to vote for Al-Gore. Of course they knew that this would be a tight election. Amy rushes to the studio and starts the program. She interviews President Clinton. She asks tough questions. She asks variety of questions from him. At some point Clinton accuses her of being "combative and hostile". In return she calls her questions critical. The day after that show someone from White House calls Amy and tells her why she broke "the ground rules" of the interview! "What ground rules?" Amy says. She says that they didn't agree on any sort of ground rules and she wouldn't agree on any. Amy says that she believes she shouldn't trade her principles for access and this is the only ground rule she accepts. The caller threatens her of banning her from the White House! Amy says that she didn't have any that she could lose it! The caller says she was supposed to interview Clinton just for a few minutes and he was just willing to take out the votes. Amy says that Clinton is the most powerful man in the world, he can hang up if he wants!

You can watch the interview and read the transcript of the interview here.

Outfoxed

Outfoxed is the title of a new movie made by MoveOne.org. It is said to be a documentary that lashes out at Fox News. MoveOn asks his supporters to screen the movie on July 18th. You can watch a trailer of this movie here and here. Since I haven't watched the movie I can't comment on that! What do you think of Fox News and Outfoxed?

An Interesting TV Advertisement

An American organization called faithfulamerica.org is going to air a TV ad on Arab televisions condemning the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. In this ad 4 American religious leaders speak. They are Donald Shriver (Protestant), Imam Feisal Abdur Rauf (Muslim), Sister Betty Obal (Roman Catholic) and Rabbi Arthur Waskow (Jewish). They apologize from Iraqis for the crimes committed in their names. I know almost nothing about this organization but they made a beautiful decision. Running this ad shows to Arab world what real American values are, and reduces anti-American views in the Arab world. I hope they can air this ad. Here is the transcript of this advertisement (taken from faithfulamerica.org):

A Salaam A'alaykum ["Peace be with you" in Arabic]. As Americans of faith, we express our deep sorrow at abuses committed in Iraqi prisons. We stand in solidarity with all those in Iraq and everywhere who demand justice and human dignity. We condemn the sinful and systemic abuses committed in our name, and pledge to work to right these wrongs.

At the end of the ad the following sentence appears on screen:

This message was endorsed and paid for by thousands of Americans. www.faithfulamerica.org

Voter Registration

I've heard that in order to be able to vote you should register but I didn't know that you have to register long time before you want to vote in the US. In some states like TX and WV, you should register 30 days before the election day! First I thought that's because they should look at you records and see if you are eligible to vote or not, i.e., if you are a felon or not (by the way I don't know the voting eligibility is equivalent to not being a felon and of course being a US citizen!), but in the states that everyone can vote like Vermont and Maine you have to register as well. The only state that doesn't require registration is North Dakota. Have a look at this page if you need more information. Anyone knows what's this registration for?

Fahrenheit 9/11 II

For reading the first part of this post click here. Im still looking for the answer to some questions that I have in mind after watching the film. From watching the first part of the movie a question came to my mind. Can Senators dispute presidential elections? According to Article II of the US constitution they have no right to dispute the election. But of course not everything is mentioned in the constitution! Is anyone aware of the answer to my question? Does anyone even read my posts?!!

Fireworks

The 4th of July is coming. It is the independence day of the US. I was talking to an American about the fireworks in this day. Amazingly he told me that carrying fireworks is illegal in CT except for sparklers! In some cities in the US even sparklers are not allowed. In Longbeach, CA using "ALL fireworks, including sparklers, within the city" is not allowed it may result to six months of jail and you may be fined up to $1000.

Felon

A felon is someone who is convicted of a serious crime. According to Cambridge Dictionary felony means: "(an example of) serious crime which can be punished by one or more years in prison". In most US states they do not have right to vote. This was a very interesting piece of information to me. However in the states of Vermont and Maine their eligibility to vote is not effected. In some states they gain their right to vote automatically after their sentence is finished but in some other states they have to take their case to a court. Amazingly in some states they may not have their vote restored! In the state of Delaware, as it says "A person convicted of murder, manslaughter or any felony constituting a sexual offense or an offense against public administration involving bribery, improper influence or abuse of office, may not have their voting rights restored." It was interesting to me. How about you?

Fahrenheit 9/11

I watched the movie. As you know it is a documentary by Michael Moore, the anti-war, anti-Bush guy. His statement while getting the Oscar prize is well-known:"Shame on you Mr. Bush". He starts the movie with showing the celebrations for the Al-Gore victory in 2000. It is shown that all of the news channels including CNN announce the victory of Al-Gore in the state of Florida except for one channel, which is Fox News. It is claimed that the guy behind this news was the cousin of George W. Bush. Then all the other channels take back their previous news and apologize from the public for their wrong news. Now Bush is the winner. The case is brought to the supreme court. Just 5 (out of 9) members of the supreme court vote for Bush and so Bush is the winner of the extremely important state of Florida. But wait! As I understood, at that time there was still a chance. As I inferred if a Senator made a complain about the presidential election it would go to another process and something would happen! But not even one Senator said anything about that. A lot of Representatives, mostly African-American, complained. If a Senator complained about the election Bush couldn't be the president that simple! It seems to me that it was a decision made by the Democratic party. Since they wanted to both make complains and at the same time didn't want to loose their reputation, since supreme court voted for Bush. He says that all these things were just like dreams. He shows when he once met Bush and he told him:"Come to the real world". I will continue that later.

Note: I found out that what Bush told Moore was "Behave yourself-go find real work"!!

First Reader

Hey. If you are the lucky first reader of my weblog (of course except for myself!) please leave a message and say how you found my blog since I didnt advertise for it! Im just curious!

Lance Armstrong

These Americans are crazy about Lance Armstrong. In a TV ad they said something like this: In order to win Tour de France once, you need to be a professional cyclist, to win it twice you should be God ... To win it 5 times in a row you have to be Lance Armstrong!! Of course not all Americans are like this!

Missing Home

What would you do if you wanted to be home but you couldnt?
What would you do if this was more than a year that you havent been home because of some problems that you have no control on them?