Buses are increasingly becoming a target of propaganda group ads.  Can we please fund our metropolitan buses a bit more so that they do not have to take ads from such groups?

On one hand, if channels for relaying factual information to the masses were still open in the modern world, groups would not have to resort to buying advertisement to get the reality out.  On the other hand, propaganda groups can produce ads whose political implications are not quite understood by the gentle folk at our neighbourhood bus companies.

At QeRN, we have been following this story for some time now. As their book is about to be published, we take a look at the latest twist in their saga.

The following is a piece by the blogger 'Gary' and a reproduction of a letter by Walt and Mearsheimer themselves:

Often in human history, there comes a time when a generation must heed the call to quell a threat to civilization. Not every generation is faced with this call and those that do are remembered for their sacrifice by the others that are not.

Akber Choudhry

"Russia's big and so is China", the US president made this remark while the microphone was on. The rest of the overheard conversation showed how pitifully foolish and out of touch Bush is. It also shows, sadly, that the US has no clout left.

Well, you are going to read it here first: the US is not intervening in the Israel-Lebanon war because it cannot. As simple as that. Iran has skillfully played its hand and the Arabs, the Americans and the Israelis are not happy that Iran is now the 'other power' in the Middle East.

Impeccable timing and media manipulation - that's all I can say.

"Now the Lebanese and the Palestinians are both caught in the crossfire. Iran and its proxies on one side, and Israel (and Washington) on the other, are acting like chess players who, having both thought out a sequence of moves well in advance, are now moving pieces and sacrificing pawns at breakneck speed. There will be a great many pawns sacrificed, as well as most of the other pieces on the board, and the end game will inevitably be truly ugly. Unless somebody intervenes." -- Geov Parrish at WorkingForChange.com

Israel's over-reaction to the capture of anonymous soldiers coincided with the referral of Iran to the UN concerning its nuclear program. The dust will not settle easily now. The US is going to be pulled in, and its decision is to let tensions simmer or let the drums roll - World War III.

First, a British professor refused to write for an academic journal funded by Israeli universities, saying that he was taking part in a boycott of Israel.

"Alas, I am unable to accept your kind invitation, for reasons that you may not like," wrote Professor Richard Seaford, from the University of Exeter in England. "I have, along with many other British academics, signed the academic boycott of Israel, in the face of the brutal and illegal expansionism and the slow-motion ethnic cleansing being practiced by your government."

I believe that Judaism is not Zionism is not Israel/Palestine. When Jewish intellectuals speak out on this subject, the totally non-intellectual reaction by Zionists is a sight to behold. Enjoy:

[extracted from article by John Sutherland -- The Guardian -- November 28, 2005]
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The vitriol Jacqueline Rose's ideas have provoked is, perhaps, more
startling than the ideas themselves. After Rose spoke on the winning side in a public debate on Zionism in January, Melanie Phillips -- one of the speakers on the losing side -- described her as one of "three Jewish persecutors of Israel who strutted their repellent stuff," and accused her of implicitly suggesting that "the Jews are responsible for their own destruction."

The earthquake was centered in Ramallah, Palestine and the aftershocks are still being felt all over the world. The political tsunami is unprecedented since 1945.

The usage of the word "terrorist" with respect to Islamic resistance movements lost all rational meaning in the space of 24 hours with the victory of Hamas in the Palestinian elections.

The stakes are high now: Bush was mumbling sheepishly -- ok, a bit more than usual! Rice was at a loss for words. The Israelis are locked in meetings as I write this and Amre Moussa was on CNN somewhere in between the lines. Even Daniel Pipes, the inplacable foe of Islam and Palestine, said, "Now that Hamas has apparently won the Palestinian elections, the West is hoist with its own petard." We hope that Daniel Pipes' vitriol has now turned against the West and rational people will see him for who he really is -- another casualty of democracy!