World Politics

[Destiny]

Don't know if this goes here, but thought it might. Source Tv Guide Online

White House Reporter Helen Thomas Retires After Controversial Comments <Snip>
Longtime White House reporter Helen Thomas announced her immediate retirement on Monday following the controversy stemming from her comments on Israel, according to her employer, Hearst News Service.

Fox News: Helen Thomas to Retire 'Effective Immediately' Following Uproar Over 'Palestine' Comments

CNN: White House correspondent Thomas retires amid controversial comments

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I only bring this up again not sure it belongs here, but the President weighs in on the article. I am including a snip.

Gulf oil disaster cleanup to take years, Allen says
He later bluntly defended his administration's response to the spill, telling an interviewer he has met with experts to learn "whose ass to kick."


For More On Any Of The Stories Please Referre To The Links Provided!

 

[Ducky]

Ohoh, this weekend I get to vote who's our next Prime Minister until elections in Apr 2011! Since my party changes leader/president and we are biggest party in parliament and government so whoever wins that elections becomes PM.

Exciting!
Yay!

Erm, about other politics, anyone followed what Israel does at Mediterrain (sp?) sea? Rather interesting policy they have and rather interesting reasons.

 

[Ajbuckly]

Ohoh, this weekend I get to vote who's our next Prime Minister until elections in Apr 2011! Since my party changes leader/president and we are biggest party in parliament and government so whoever wins that elections becomes PM.

Exciting!
Yay!

Erm, about other politics, anyone followed what Israel does at Mediterrain (sp?) sea? Rather interesting policy they have and rather interesting reasons.

Please tell me more.....What direction are "you" heading? or the majority?

Yes ...have follow the news in Israel....Were I live the action was condemed(?) but news reports no action is "done" before USA out right condems something too.

 

[PalmTree]

Ohoh, this weekend I get to vote who's our next Prime Minister until elections in Apr 2011!

Hope that it will be easier for you to determine your vote as it is for me....over here tomorrow (i.e. 9 -6) we have also elections (parliament
) and we can choose between ca. 19 parties...
I wonder how long it will take after tomorrow before we have a coalition.. (it can take months if the results are diverted)

 

[_Hush_]

Our last government took 194 days to form, which is a record, I think. This was last year, and coming Sunday, we'll get to vote again :lol:

Where are you from, Palmtree? Cuz this week seems like international elections week

On a more serious note, what happened in Israel is inexplicable. If this happened to another nation then Palestina, I'm sure the UN would've jumped right on it. I just can't understand how they can allow Israel to attack a ship simply loaded with food and supplies. I get that the US needs to stay friendly with Israel but the lack of action is non-excusable.

 

[talkingtocactus]

^ it's not just about staying friendly though, it's because the israeli/zionist lobby in the us is probably the most powerful, influential and lucrative sector in any politics anywhere in the world.

 

[_Hush_]

^That's what I meant by staying friendly. My English tends to minimize to basic knowledge after 9PM

Still, this could've been a turning point where the US could finally take a stand. Israel seems to be allowed much more than other countries, which isn't exactly fair. They forced the Palestines into a non-fertile area. Denying them basic supplies is practically asking for retribution.

 

[talkingtocactus]

ah, sorry, i see what you mean. yeah, it really could've been a chance to take a stand but too many americans are totally behind what the israelis did - i think the way it was reported in america was very very different to how it was in the rest of the world - the news reports i've seen, and the comments of american friends who are pro israel, suggest that it was reported in a much more positive light, whereas here in europe the israeli actions were definitely seen more negatively on the whole.

i always find this really interesting - just how easily propaganda gets out and affects all of us. from my own pov as a gaza sympathiser, obviously i'm taking the more anti-israeli press as being correct but i wasn't there so how can i really be sure that what the american press are saying isn't what really happened? it's really tough when propaganda is so pervasive!

but yeah, israel are being given a lot more leeway than anyone else would be - if, say, saddam (in his time), or ahmedinejad had done this, it probably would've been cause for invasion or at least sanctions. but it's not. don't get me wrong, i'm not remotely anti-israel generally (this is a cliche but a lot of my friends are israeli, and after the holocaust and 2000 years of persecution, there really should be a jewish homeland) - i just wish that the same international rules that apply to other nations would be applied there, because what's been done to palestine/gaza is nothing short of illegal. and like you say, it's just inviting retribution.

 

[PalmTree]

Our last government took 194 days to form, which is a record, I think. This was last year, and coming Sunday, we'll get to vote again :lol:

Where are you from, Palmtree? Cuz this week seems like international elections week

I'm from the netherlands... on a day like today it is good to realize you're privileged to be able to vote in freedom without restrictions...
the right to vote is not self-evident....

 

[_Hush_]

Cool, then we're neighbours, sorta. I'm from Belgium

I just read that the turn-out for the elections seems to be lower then previous years. Around 14:00, only 28% had casted their vote. That's a really low number in my opinion. Why do you think so few people went voting?

Over here, we're obligated to vote. If not, you'll be fined. Which I don't think is a bad system. This way, people have to be more interested in politics in order to have a decent idea who to vote for.

don't get me wrong, i'm not remotely anti-israel generally (this is a cliche but a lot of my friends are israeli, and after the holocaust and 2000 years of persecution, there really should be a jewish homeland) - i just wish that the same international rules that apply to other nations would be applied there, because what's been done to palestine/gaza is nothing short of illegal. and like you say, it's just inviting retribution.

I'm not sure the whole Israel thing was a good idea in the first place. I'm not anti-Jewish or anything, but forcing a population out of their houses, out of the place where they've lived for over a hundred years, in order to occupy it yourself, is not a fair solution. I don't even know why they couldn't live amongst eachother, why organize a mass relocation?

Like you, I'm afraid the American reporting is far from objective. The US has far too much to lose if Israel would turn against them. Still, can we have an American view on this? Anyone?

 

[talkingtocactus]

Cool, then we're neighbours, sorta. I'm from Belgium

woo! big up the european contingent i was in calais yesterday, does that count? i ate flammenkueche - ick. it wasn't quite as bad as a welsh complet but it wasn't far off. gotta love the ch'ti

I'm not sure the whole Israel thing was a good idea in the first place. I'm not anti-Jewish or anything, but forcing a population out of their houses, out of the place where they've lived for over a hundred years, in order to occupy it yourself, is not a fair solution. I don't even know why they couldn't live amongst eachother, why organize a mass relocation?

yeah, i'm inclined to agree actually, it's just such a difficult one and so often if you say that people think you're some kind of holocaust denying nutjob or something. it's such an inflammatory issue.

it's just so sad though - by claiming a homeland after their displacement, they've now just done exactly that to another group - how can that be right? if we all tried to live by 2000+ year old title deed claims, the whole world would be screwed. well, more screwed anyway!

it's a mess and has caused so many more problems - just about every problem in the middle east is related to it (well, that and oil), it makes no sense to me at all.

that said i do think a jewish homeland state makes sense, there has been an astoundingly high amount of persecution against the jewish over the years and to deny them just seems wrong as well. it's a really tough one.

i think for me the moral of the story is to never, ever mix religion and politics.

Like you, I'm afraid the American reporting is far from objective. The US has far too much to lose if Israel would turn against them. Still, can we have an American view on this? Anyone?

true, but i guess we can't say for certain ours is either - i'm sure there are people over in the states talking about how biased our reporting is because europe is so much more liberal/gaza sympathetic etc. apart from the people who were actually there, i doubt we'll ever know. although the fact that european news media are generally less tightly controlled by the political powers that be probably has an impact as well and means it's somewhat more objective.

anyway, i'm waffling.:lol:

 

[Ducky]

Ohoh, this weekend I get to vote who's our next Prime Minister until elections in Apr 2011! Since my party changes leader/president and we are biggest party in parliament and government so whoever wins that elections becomes PM.

Exciting!
Yay!

Erm, about other politics, anyone followed what Israel does at Mediterrain (sp?) sea? Rather interesting policy they have and rather interesting reasons.

Please tell me more.....What direction are "you" heading? or the majority?

Erm, I'm not sure was I clear.
Our parliament elections will be held in Apr 2011.

At the moment, in government has these parties: Centre, National Coalition, Greens, Swedish People's party. Centre is biggest so Centre Party's president is our PM.

He decided to retire as party's president and this weekend Centre Party has it's big meeting/conference [held every 2 yrs], where we'll choose new president, 3 vice presidents and secretary for the Party. And automaticly new Centre's president will be our PM until elections 2011.

It's bit strange and silly and I cannot understand why our current PM cannot stay only as PM until the elections. And there is no point having early elections just because of this. The anti-Centre people (believe me, there's lots of those - esp in cities and media) are upset that we can just choose PM like this
But I highly doubt that Centre is biggest in elections 2011 and we'll once again get new PM.

But I do have my candidate, been bit hard to choose between two (there's 4 candidates).

As for Israel - didn't they offer some kind of land for jewish from South America but it wasn't accepted?

Anyways, I've always found it strange that some have lived there thousands of years and then comes another group, who says God said this is our promised land so get out.

And no, I don't have anything against jewish people. Yes, they've been thru a lot, something what should have never happened but feels like anything negative and you are accused of antisemitism (sp?)

Soemtimes I feel they are not far from terrosits themselves.

Which leads to another thing, anyone read Hannah Arendt's book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil?

I know it's old and is about nazicriminal's courtday and conviction but... I read bit of it and it's really good.

 

[talkingtocactus]

As for Israel - didn't they offer some kind of land for jewish from South America but it wasn't accepted?

i believe so but i'm not sure...

And no, I don't have anything against jewish people. Yes, they've been thru a lot, something what should have never happened but feels like anything negative and you are accused of antisemitism (sp?)

yeah, that's the problem - anyone that says anything negative regards israel is automatically called anti semitic, even when in most cases that just isn't true, but it's a pretty good way to fend off criticism. anti semitism is a horrible thing, but a critical view of israel policy is not the same thing.

Which leads to another thing, anyone read Hannah Arendt's book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil?

I know it's old and is about nazicriminal's courtday and conviction but... I read bit of it and it's really good.

yep, i had to study it a few years ago. i loved it, hannah arendt was an amazing woman. her idea that just standing by and letting persecution happen makes you complicit is one that i pretty much agree with. sometimes there are mitigating factors of course but i think she made many good points. i really enjoyed reading her work.

 

[Ajbuckly]

Our last government took 194 days to form, which is a record, I think. This was last year, and coming Sunday, we'll get to vote again :lol:

Where are you from, Palmtree? Cuz this week seems like international elections week

I'm from the netherlands... on a day like today it is good to realize you're privileged to be able to vote in freedom without restrictions...
the right to vote is not self-evident....

, where we'll choose new president, 3 vice presidents and secretary for the Party. And automaticly new Centre's president will be our PM until elections 2011.

The Swedish People have their own Party? How many Swedes live in your country? And what about the Sames (they spred over Norway, Sweden and Finland)

For Plamtree did Wildkers(?) make minister or not? Media reports that besides Wilkers the party might not hold many candidates to lead the party, should he leave?

 

[_Hush_]

^ I read Wilders is even willing to make concessions in order to join the coalition. His PVV is the third biggest party, so I think it would be hard to form a majority without him.

Plus, the dutch government is still being formed, so it's too early to tell if Wilders will be made minister or not.