<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162</id><updated>2011-04-21T11:54:40.078-07:00</updated><category term='NY Times'/><category term='Pakistan'/><category term='Korea'/><category term='Iran'/><category term='personal'/><category term='peace'/><category term='news'/><category term='Gaza'/><category term='Free Burma'/><category term='Afghanistan'/><category term='US gov'/><category term='military'/><category term='Burma'/><category term='school'/><category term='famous pictures'/><category term='Palestine'/><category term='Israel'/><category term='blog'/><category term='Middle East'/><category term='war'/><category term='Ahmadinejad'/><category term='protests'/><title type='text'>hello, history</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>25</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-5832694310771164797</id><published>2009-01-08T00:46:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2009-01-08T01:11:03.714-08:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Palestine'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Gaza'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='military'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Israel'/><title type='text'>Well.</title><content type='html'>This blog went entirely defunct over a year ago, and reading some of my old posts embarrasses me to the core, but now everyone is talking about the one thing I've devoted the past two years of my life to, and I can keep silent no more.&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Before I begin, here are my stats, possibly my biases, laid bare in a portrait of myself: I am an American-Israeli agnostic Jew raised in New York City.  I have always considered myself a liberal-leaning moderate with an overall desire for peace.  I believe, firmly, that the resolution to the conflict lies in the education of the youth to want peace as opposed to the education of the youth to want victory.  Of course this education is similar to the propaganda I seemingly denounce below, but all education is propaganda anyway.  I will admit to civilly sympathizing more with the plight of the Palestinian population, because the humanist in me feels the conditions in which they live are utterly deplorable and entirely solvable.  I love the country of Israel (not necessarily its government) and want to live there one day, but I do not consider myself to be a Zionist in conventional definitions of what Zionism is.  I tend to find modern Zionism, its functions, and its endeavors to be mostly misplaced and misdirected and believe that there is greater good to be found and used in the power harnessed by the Zionist movement.  I do not support violent acts of any kind against civilians of any nationality.  In this conflict, I do not believe either side is &lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;more &lt;/span&gt;right or &lt;span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"&gt;more &lt;/span&gt;wrong than the other, instead, I believe that both sides have transgressed equally but any system that would enable the general population to accept their own countries transgressions is inherently dangerous to present governments.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Israel may try to "crush" Hamas in a ground operation but the destruction is only temporary.  You cannot Israel may try to "crush" Hamas in a ground operation but the destruction is only temporary. You cannot crush an ideology that is furthered by your attempts to destroy that ideology.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Both sides are equally responsible for civilian deaths, for the civilian deaths on both sides. One cannot ignore the fact that Israeli settlers do deliberately place themselves in dangerous situations, make themselves essentially walking targets, because they are generally coerced by government incentives (usually financial) and religious conviction. Simultaneously Palestinians are coerced by a pervasive rhetoric that Israel is solely responsible for their suffering, when there is an incompetent and corrupt system of leadership in Palestine equally liable for the suffering of these people - the corruption present basically leaves the Palestinian population as a community without government, without protectorate representation, which in practical terms means they have no rights. Civilians are pawns which governments use to further capital gains.  It's not so much that Palestinian blood means less to Israel (although you will hear many Israelis on the street refer to Arabs as "animals" - symptomatic of the propogandist education Israelis are privy to re: their Arab neighbors, purposeful only for the continuance of the perpetual war between the cultures) as that it's generally just a non-issue: A state in which all citizens re compulsorily required to serve militarily as they reach precisely the age of intellectual maturity creates a nation desensitized to the casualties of war who are not their own comrades. And the Palestinian militants have found a useful tool to invoke the world's outrage in the death of their own people - please, call me harsh, but if Palestinian civilians weren't killed in this conflict in such disparate numbers compared to Israelis, would international opinion really be so outraged? It is to the benefit, therefore of the Palestinian leadership to continue to allow for these deaths, and therefore continued incentive to use civilian homes and civilian bodies as bases and shields for their acts of violence and fear-mongering against Israel. So on both sides, you have a civilian population controlled by rhetorical propaganda education, propaganda the most effective tool in swaying the masses and education the mechanism most capable of reaching the masses.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;And the same goes for the rest of us. It is not merely enough to read the news and assume we know what is going on, and it is not merely enough for us to dismiss this as a conflict that is centuries old and therefore ingrained in the cultural narrative. The narrative is so powerful because we are all taught to believe that it is still relevant, that the wounds of the past should continue to scar and twinge permanently. So long as we do not wish to move on, admit wrongdoings on both sides, and begin the healing process, we never will be able to despite concentrated political efforts. The belief simply is not there, because the people are not taught to believe. Any political endeavor peace-ward is hindered by massive public opinion, and public opinion is further aggravated by the acts of the opposing side, which feed straight into the rhetoric of each culture. The Palestinian narrative recalls land being snatched away from under their very feet and forced exodus (flight in fear of death and violent attack) from their homes into refugee camps, when in reality most land was bought by Jews from Arab landowners and this "exodus" was generally encouraged by Palestinian leadership with little or no basis, and the persisting impoverished conditions of the population continue to support this narrative -- "Had the Zionists never stolen our land, we would be living and flourishing in our rightful homes, instead we are the victims of the same brutality our ancestors were subject to decades past." This narrative enables radical splinter groups to continue their violent acts without major dissent from the population, and any Israeli action only serves to intensify negative feelings in the population, causing them only to support the radicals who are in part responsible for their pain.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Simultaneously, the Israeli/Zionist narrative is that Israel, the Biblical homeland, is an existential necessity for the survival of the Jewish people, that Jews cannot live as outsiders in another country for other countries will not and do not protect Jews, long considered in Western ideologies the outsider/alien. Because of this consistent perceived existential threat, any act of violence against Israel is perceived as an act of violence against the religion, symptomatic of a deeper underlying anti-Semitism that would see to the complete annihilation of the Jewish people when given the chance. Physical protection, then, seems entirely necessary in this light, requiring military presence/training/knowledge/development amongst the Israeli/Jewish population. The narrative is furthered by frequent violence from the neighboring communities who are not Jewish - go straight back to the 1910's and '20's, to the major influxes of Jewish immigrants into Israel, and you'll see violent protests from the local Arab populations, and violent responses from Jewish militias. These outbursts serve only to make the Jewish existence seem even more vulnerable to destruction, a common theme in Jewish history.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;These two narratives are ultimately irreconcilable, and if you read even the 1929 British Mandate Commission's report on conditions of Palestine, you will find that although borders have changed locations and population centers and numbers have fluctuated, nothing fundamental in the conflict has changed in over eighty years. That report even states that the narratives are irreconcilable, and that the only possible solution is "surgical removal." But, so long as Palestinians feel oppressed and Israelis feel existentially threatened, militant cells will continue violent acts against Israel and the Israeli army will continue its campaign to destroy elements opposed to the state of Israel, and neither nation's leadership will find any true incentive to pursue viable peace because peace is not a prosperous condition.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-5832694310771164797?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/5832694310771164797/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=5832694310771164797' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/5832694310771164797'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/5832694310771164797'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2009/01/well.html' title='Well.'/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-6606037211316183654</id><published>2007-11-26T18:49:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2007-11-26T18:58:31.906-08:00</updated><title type='text'>The schoolgirl chronicles, part I.</title><content type='html'>Gina and Whitney are best friends.  They both hate Ilyse.  Ilyse sits between Gina and Whitney in math class because the teacher assigned their seats like that.  Gina and Whitney want Ilyse to switch seats with them, but she refuses, so Gina and Whitney throw spitballs at Ilyse all day, and she keeps throwing them right back.  One day, Gina takes something belonging to Whitney, and they stop talking.  Lonely the next day in math (and also looking for a little revenge), Whitney becomes friends with Ilyse.  They both decide to ignore Gina.  Gina gets frustrated, and, in an effort to both ruin the newly-formed friendship between Whitney and Ilyse and to gain attention and get what she really still wants (her seat switched), she starts throwing even more spitballs at Ilyse.  Ilyse is angry, and she gets the teacher involved.  The teacher petitions to Whitney to get Gina to stop throwing spitballs, but Whitney has no power to tell Gina what to do, and Gina doesn't listen because she knows that she is still in the right to get her seat changed.  What no one sees is that Gina has valid reasons for being angry, because they're too busy focusing on her wrongdoing and not inviting her to express her anger in an environment where her frustrations can be turned into something productive.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-6606037211316183654?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/6606037211316183654/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=6606037211316183654' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/6606037211316183654'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/6606037211316183654'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/11/schoolgirl-chronicles-part-i.html' title='The schoolgirl chronicles, part I.'/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-6699750610959124308</id><published>2007-11-15T23:57:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2007-11-15T23:58:05.286-08:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/SGE.AFW85.161107055745.photo03.quicklook.default-165x245.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/SGE.AFW85.161107055745.photo03.quicklook.default-165x245.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-6699750610959124308?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/6699750610959124308/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=6699750610959124308' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/6699750610959124308'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/6699750610959124308'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/11/blog-post.html' title=''/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-8079912064827608512</id><published>2007-11-09T08:42:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2007-11-09T09:08:40.788-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Everybody's talkin' 'bout...</title><content type='html'>...&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;moderate&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today in Pakistan, a huge showing of police force to prevent a rally against Musharraf's emergency rule.  Bhutto was barricaded into her house.  But the real interesting part of &lt;a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/10/world/asia/10pakistan.html?ex=1352350800&amp;amp;en=2a16987ae4c210ba&amp;amp;ei=5088&amp;amp;partner=rssnyt&amp;amp;emc=rss"&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; article comes when the United States gets an input, as the New York Times follows the government for its stories.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;A spokesman for President Bush, Gordon D. Johndroe, called for the release of Ms. Bhutto, her supporters, other party members and all protesters. “It is crucial for Pakistan’s future that moderate political forces work together to bring Pakistan back on the path to democracy,” he said in a statement.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Moderate.  An American policy buzzword in the later years of "The War on Terror."  In Palestine, we're looking to deal with the &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;moderate&lt;/span&gt; political players, in this case the secular Fatah party.  In Iraq, we're looking to appeal to the &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;moderate&lt;/span&gt; and intelligently thinking of the population.  And here is that word again, this time in Pakistan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This notes a very interesting, although slightly hypocritical, shift in policy.  Instead of dealing with the extremists head on (and going into towns and killing innocent people and inciting the wrath of the gloal community), &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;now&lt;/span&gt; we go around the extremist players and deal with the &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;nice, less-controversial moderates&lt;/span&gt;.  Right now it seems like policy gold: Look!  They're working with us!  They like us!  But I forsee this as a massive failure.  It's like having a fight with France so negotiating with Canada for it to stop.  In the end, it doesn't make any sense, because the 'extremists' don't answer to the 'moderates.'&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And the hypocritical aspect?  When, ever, has this current administration opted to promote moderate thinking in policy-making?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-8079912064827608512?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/8079912064827608512/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=8079912064827608512' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/8079912064827608512'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/8079912064827608512'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/11/everybodys-talkin-bout.html' title='Everybody&apos;s talkin&apos; &apos;bout...'/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-8548926067157138118</id><published>2007-10-24T07:39:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-10-24T07:58:18.141-07:00</updated><title type='text'>President of Iraqi Kurdish region urges end to rebellion</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/73650832.jpg?v=1&amp;amp;c=ViewImages&amp;amp;k=2&amp;amp;d=17A4AD9FDB9CF1935B3684F2B7A07BEB42209CA42FA02658284831B75F48EF45"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 193px; height: 180px;" src="http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/73650832.jpg?v=1&amp;amp;c=ViewImages&amp;amp;k=2&amp;amp;d=17A4AD9FDB9CF1935B3684F2B7A07BEB42209CA42FA02658284831B75F48EF45" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;"We have always struggled for the sake of peace, democracy, development and stability for our people and peoples of the region. We are in fact in a bitter and continued state of struggle against terrorism," the statement [by Kurdish Pr&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;esid&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;ent Massud Barzani] s&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;aid.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Whst's still unclear to me is, how does the global community keep letting this happen?  How do we always figure out a way to ignore one group's crises by focusing too hard on another's?  And th&lt;span&gt;en crazy shit starts to &lt;/span&gt;erupt on the street behind our backs because we were busily looking hard in the other direction, and we turn to see what's going on behind us and we are shocked.  Well, the rest of the world keeps operating.&lt;span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;  &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;We are in fact in a... struggle against terrorism.&lt;/span&gt;  These communities - shit, not just communities, entire regiouns - of people, on their native land or not, feeling at risk, feeling like victims.  The story of the Kurds is sad.  It's not surprising that, for their own protection, they would seek it from amongst their people and be able to ignore questionable activities because they all know what they need protection against.  So they set up this militia, which "largely operates clandestinely through local social groups in the three northern Iraqi Kurdish provinces of Sulaimaniyah, Arbil and Dohuk."  They'll call it 'social groups,' I'd say you'd be better off to understand them as organizations like Fatah.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;""We do not want to sacrifice our cultural and economic relations with Iraq for the sake of a terror organisation," [Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan] said, referring to the PKK."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Source: &lt;a href="http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/071024125114.1se7n3g6.html"&gt;Agence France-Presse&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-8548926067157138118?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/8548926067157138118/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=8548926067157138118' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/8548926067157138118'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/8548926067157138118'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/10/we-have-always-struggled-for-sake-of.html' title='President of Iraqi Kurdish region urges end to rebellion'/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-2496415479385470865</id><published>2007-10-23T22:16:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-10-23T22:33:10.317-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Kurds make a bid for freedom,</title><content type='html'>Or at least, thats what I think Kurdish militiamen are ultimately trying to accomplish.  By drawing attention to themselves in the global media, they are trying to gain support and sympathy.  They have no desire to remain a part of Iraq - the Iraqi flag is regarded as a symbol of their genocide.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I could be wrong about this and I very well may be.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1674242,00.html?imw=Y"&gt;This article&lt;/a&gt; from Time is quite interesting, detailing the political implications of Turkey being drawn into Iraq.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;...Turkish public fury has now found a second target in the Kurdish regional government of north Iraq, which popular opinion in Turkey has accused of harboring the PKK.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;I have to wonder, what's the major difference between a political faction enabling and possibly harboring militant opposition groups and a political party or candidate indulging the interests of otherwise questionable groups in order to gain political capital and support.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Iraqi Kurds appear to be relying on Washington to intervene, but the U.S. is caught between a rock and a hard place. North Iraq is the only relatively stable region in that country and the Kurds there are its only allies. Washington has repeatedly urged respect for Iraq's sovereignty. At the same time, however, Turkey is one of the biggest U.S. allies — the only mainly Muslim NATO member and a key player in a volatile region that Washington cannot risk alienating.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;America doesn't dare risk alienating its allies at this point, as it is slowly losing political legitimacy on a global scale.  As long as it remains an occupying military force in another nation, it is dependent on global support to achieve whatever twisted ends they have envisioned.  Does anyone even know why we're there anymore?  Why we were there in the first place?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Are we allowed to be angry?  Should we be entitled to voice our opinions?  A democratic political system says yes, but a minor opposition voice says no one is particularly interested.  How do we fix this?  Are some of these horrible things that are happening due, in part, to our apathy?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What a world.&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-2496415479385470865?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/2496415479385470865/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=2496415479385470865' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/2496415479385470865'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/2496415479385470865'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/10/kurds-make-bid-for-freedom.html' title='Kurds make a bid for freedom,'/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-6707560791101656764</id><published>2007-10-17T20:36:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-10-17T20:41:18.298-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Bush defies China in public meeting with Dalai Lama</title><content type='html'>Is this how desperate  America is for friends on the world stage?  A &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Congressional Medal of Honor&lt;/span&gt; to the Dalai Lama... why? Because the current government lacks global credibility?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Perhaps...&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-6707560791101656764?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/6707560791101656764/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=6707560791101656764' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/6707560791101656764'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/6707560791101656764'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/10/bush-defies-china-in-public-meeting.html' title='Bush defies China in public meeting with Dalai Lama'/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-7477532256669712114</id><published>2007-10-13T19:56:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-10-13T20:00:55.187-07:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/washington/14weapons.html?ex=1350014400&amp;amp;en=ca03acd9fafccfde&amp;amp;ei=5088&amp;amp;partner=rssnyt&amp;amp;emc=rss"&gt;Analysts Find Israel Struck a Nuclear Project in Syria.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, my mother and I had been speculating that since the initial attack.  Israel really is 'warmongering.'  My family all thinks I've turned traitor because I refuse to call myself pro-Israel.  To them, because I'm not pro-Israel, I &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;must&lt;/span&gt; be anti-Israel, and have something horribly wrong with my head.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh well.  A quest for knowledge always has those on the side who just simply can't understand.  I'll live.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-7477532256669712114?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/7477532256669712114/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=7477532256669712114' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/7477532256669712114'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/7477532256669712114'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/10/analysts-find-israel-struck-nuclear.html' title=''/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-966953683577941388</id><published>2007-10-12T22:31:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-10-12T22:35:00.781-07:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;You could almost feel bad for the Bush Administration.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="text-decoration: underline;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/071012220312.z0e2lgpf.html"&gt;US covering up Iraqi corruption: lawmakers&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/13/washington/13general.html?ex=1349928000&amp;amp;en=f4eb07efe9b88682&amp;amp;ei=5088&amp;amp;partner=rssnyt&amp;amp;emc=rss"&gt;Ex-Commander Says Iraq Effort Is ‘a Nightmare’&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;h1 style="font-weight: normal;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Yeah, &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;almost&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-966953683577941388?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/966953683577941388/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=966953683577941388' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/966953683577941388'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/966953683577941388'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/10/you-could-almost-feel-bad-for-bush.html' title=''/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-3678203285459438570</id><published>2007-10-11T07:39:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2007-10-12T12:45:19.431-07:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>It seems like the Bush Administration is having a lot of trouble, especially as of late.  In July, former Surgeon General Richard Carmona &lt;a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/washington/11surgeon.html"&gt;testified&lt;/a&gt; that that top officials in the administration tried to weaken and suppress important public health reports for "political considerations."  Also this summer, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales embarrassingly resigned amid a hail storm of controversy regarding alleged perjury when testifying about the firing of a number of US attorneys.  Oh, and let us not forget Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld... Who could?  It seems that Bush's entire tenure is marked and marred with corruption and controversy.  So &lt;a href="http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/071010231503.2ozjcmnr.html"&gt;this statement&lt;/a&gt; from former President Jimmy Carter is not at all shocking.  In fact, it's completely natural in the line of everything else this administration has been accused of.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, at least there's one person who can be glad that George Bush "won" presidency in 2000.  Yep, you guessed it, former Vice President Al Gore.  Why, if he hadn't "lost" to Dubya, he might be caught up in the same ridiculous political circus the US Government has made of itself.  He might even be wallowing in some awful and pointless war following a major terrorist attack.  Instead, though, he's basking in the spotlight, hobnobbing with the stars, and winning both Academy Awards and &lt;a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/13/world/13nobel.html?_r=2&amp;amp;hp&amp;amp;oref=slogin&amp;amp;oref=slogin"&gt;Nobel Peace Prizes&lt;/a&gt;.  And he's also pulling huge support from the liberal youth ... many people would support his presidential candidacy.  But he doesn't want it.  He knows he can do something so much better, and so much more important.  And he is.&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-3678203285459438570?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/3678203285459438570/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=3678203285459438570' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/3678203285459438570'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/3678203285459438570'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/10/it-seems-like-bush-administration-is.html' title=''/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-263070460419132059</id><published>2007-10-10T22:44:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-10-10T22:53:12.522-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Bush allows torture: Carter</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/071010231503.2ozjcmnr.html"&gt;This article&lt;/a&gt; from AFP is, unfortunately, not at all shocking to me. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also unfortunately, it is two in the morning and I have an early class, so I will come back to this tomorrow when I have time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I feel like I use AFP as my source far too much.  My brother points out that MetroNYC uses AP as their news source &gt;93.6% of the time, I feel like I'm doing that with AFP.  Oh well, AFP report those things which interests me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On a personal note: It's amazing how you can step outside of yourself for a few hours to enjoy the glitz and glamor of New York City, but as soon as you step back outside, there is a homeless man sleeping on the corner, and the dichotomy is blinding.  New York is not a real place.  It's amazing.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-263070460419132059?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/263070460419132059/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=263070460419132059' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/263070460419132059'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/263070460419132059'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/10/bush-allows-torture-carter.html' title='Bush allows torture: Carter'/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-2392547974400832394</id><published>2007-10-09T20:58:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-10-09T21:25:11.193-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Korea'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='news'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='NY Times'/><title type='text'>Follow-up and thensome...</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://static.flickr.com/27/47938311_f845d94307.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://static.flickr.com/27/47938311_f845d94307.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;A follow-up to &lt;a href="http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/10/nkorea-agrees-to-declare-disable.html"&gt;this&lt;/a&gt; post...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/071010013837.3hf6tqyc.html"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;US experts leave for NKorea to begin disabling nuclear arsenal&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;.  I'll reiterate: Diplomacy works.  Bush administration, you should try it.  Part of me imagines this is a slap in the face to those who truly 'believed' that whole Axis of Evil theory of George Bush's.  Remember, everyone, "these people," those North Koreans, are actually terrorists so they're beyond negotiating with!  Oh, wait... That was &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Iraq&lt;/span&gt;.  And perhaps &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Iran&lt;/span&gt;.  Hm.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All I know is, whoever inherits George Bush's title gets a beautiful steaming hot mess dropped right into their lap.  You have to admire anyone delusional enough to stand up and say, "Hey, I think that I can fix this!"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've had an exciting week, media-wise.  Last night, I went to the &lt;a href="http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_colbert_report/index.jhtml"&gt;Colbert Report&lt;/a&gt; with some friends.  Quite an experience, to witness an un-'Colbert' Stephen Colbert.  I even got a hug from him, as he ran around hugging all the women in the front row in celebration of the release of his book, &lt;a href="http://shop.comedycentral.com/I-Am-America--And-So-Can-You---Front-Page_stcVVproductId21016932VVcatId424910VVviewprod.htm?campaign1=comedycentral:colbert:colbertbook:colbertreportccdotcom:promo:100407"&gt;I Am America and So Can You&lt;/a&gt;.  I guess this doesn't count as a particularly mind-broadening experience but it certainly was fun.  Besides, Stephen Colbert and &lt;a href="http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/the_daily_show/index.jhtml"&gt;Jon Stewart&lt;/a&gt; are pioneers in their field and are certainly an important part of informing the younger masses.  I hope that those who watch these shows go out and try to follow the stories the shows cover, but if not, at least they know a little more than they would were they not watching.  So, after that horribly-formed sentence that I will come back later to edit, I grant my stamp of approval to Colbert and Stewart.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And onto the second experience... Ethan Bronner, Deputy Foreign Editor of The New York Times, came in today to try to present to us how the New York Times, particularly his branch, goes about reporting the news.  What the information process is, who the players are, what is news ... I'll type up some of that at a later time, I think.  It was quite interesting.  Out of the three speakers we've experienced so far, I must say Bronner has been the most interesting to me, possibly because of his career.  Although sometimes I consider a career in politics, I'm more interested in knowledge, in knowing what's happening everywhere and why.  That's why being a journalist really appeals to me.  Or at least involved in some way with journalism.  That's what Bronner imparted upon us.  He tried to impress that he truly believes that The New York Times presents a fair and even report to the best of their ability.  A "cold blooded thirst for the truth," he said, is what those who work at The Times possess in order to live up to their expectations of fair and impartial reporting.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In response to questions about accusations that The Times does indeed have a specific agenda, he said, "Some people just can't believe that not everything has to be political.  We're not political, we're just trying to present what happens."  Of course, people will see agendas everywhere based on how they're taught to view the world.  It's a fascinating phenomenon ... An &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;either you're with us or against us&lt;/span&gt; mentality that often stunts one's ability to accept that, perhaps, their particular side may not always be right.  This phenomenon is particularly evident when the issue is polarized by the media and the general public.  For instance, "pro-choice" &amp;amp; "pro-life," or "pro-Israel" &amp;amp; "pro-Palestine."  When viewing a news piece through a frame of that sort, it's often difficult to discern when something is simply fact and when something is biased against your particular stance.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ultimately, we've had three different men in to speak with us: The general, the politician, and the editor.  The one I want to be when I grow up is the editor.  Getting to watch what moves the general and the politician make, and then analyze them and reflect on them based on their other actions, other people's actions, history, the world's politics... Amazing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That's why the news is so fascinating.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-2392547974400832394?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/2392547974400832394/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=2392547974400832394' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/2392547974400832394'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/2392547974400832394'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/10/follow-up-and-thensome.html' title='Follow-up and thensome...'/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-4224411853879892709</id><published>2007-10-06T18:42:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-10-06T18:47:52.616-07:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7032102.stm"&gt;Michelin families leave Algeria&lt;/a&gt; - BBC&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/071006203652.3tvmijng.html"&gt;Basque separatists say Madrid had declared war with arrests&lt;/a&gt; - AFP&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/071006183223.sc2piqrm.html"&gt;Protests around the world against Myanmar's junta&lt;/a&gt; - AFP&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSH_ARAB_TV?SITE=AP&amp;amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT"&gt;Bush Denies Plan to Attack Iran&lt;/a&gt; - AP&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_RUSSIA?SITE=AP&amp;amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT"&gt;Deadlines loom at US-Russia talks&lt;/a&gt; - AP&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSL0640748120071006?feedType=RSS&amp;amp;feedName=topNews"&gt;Suspected Islamist rebels kill Somali army general&lt;/a&gt; - Reuters&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-4224411853879892709?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/4224411853879892709/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=4224411853879892709' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/4224411853879892709'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/4224411853879892709'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/10/michelin-families-leave-algeria-bbc.html' title=''/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-2510938056874229766</id><published>2007-10-06T10:35:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-10-06T10:50:13.266-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='news'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Pakistan'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Middle East'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='NY Times'/><title type='text'>News alert?</title><content type='html'>Huh.  I guess I didn't realize I registered for the New York Times to send me news alerts to my inbox, but since I did and they did, I now have something to write about.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: arial;"&gt;News Alert: Musharraf Wins Pakistan Presidential Election&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: arial;"&gt;Gen. Pervez Musharraf won re-election as Pakistan's president&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: arial;"&gt;today, officials said. But the Supreme Court will have final&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: arial;"&gt;say on whether the balloting is valid.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: times new roman;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: georgia;"&gt;Clearly, the editorial decision to send this out as a news alert means, "We, the editors of the international section of the New York Times, felt that this decision was so important that it &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;needed&lt;/span&gt; to be sent to your inbox as a registered member of the New York Times website.  So even if you don't read another news headline today, we have gone the extra step to make sure that you are informed of this information."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thanks, New York Times.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So I clicked the link provided in the email and was brought to the main page of the Times, where the first headline reads, "&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Boycotts and Legal Fight Cloud Victory for Musharraf."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pakistan's political scene exploded into an all-out war while we were too busy watching Iran and Iraq.  Same thing happened in Burma.  It's, at the very least, a good reminder that, just because &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;we're&lt;/span&gt; not looking, it doesn't stop the rest of the world from turning.  American media is so mostly uninterested in what doesn't seem to directly affect it that the American populace is allowed to ignore the politics of the rest of the world.  It seems like it's less than accidental, too.  The media is a many-faced monster with many agendas.  It might not be that far-fetched.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-2510938056874229766?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/2510938056874229766/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=2510938056874229766' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/2510938056874229766'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/2510938056874229766'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/10/news-alert.html' title='News alert?'/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-4401292460343810182</id><published>2007-10-05T15:01:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-10-05T15:03:44.230-07:00</updated><title type='text'>We are all Africans.</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/071005183413.9prekcza.html"&gt;Zimbabwe a disaster, Merkel tells South Africa's Mbeki&lt;/a&gt;. - AFP&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;How are so many atrocities possible?  It seems like, that is human nature.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-4401292460343810182?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/4401292460343810182/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=4401292460343810182' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/4401292460343810182'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/4401292460343810182'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/10/we-are-all-africans.html' title='We are all Africans.'/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-8422246723061169940</id><published>2007-10-04T21:15:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-10-04T21:18:42.132-07:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Watching:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" &gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/071004200349.x0kmtw1l.html"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: normal;"&gt;Pakistan's Bhutto, Musharraf agree on accord&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" &gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;- AFP&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/washington/05interrogate.html?_r=1&amp;amp;ex=1349236800&amp;amp;en=017dce50cf21e1f0&amp;amp;ei=5088&amp;amp;partner=rssnyt&amp;amp;emc=rss&amp;amp;oref=slogin"&gt;Debate Erupts on Techniques Used by C.I.A.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; - NYT&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/071004202757.jl6fz0w4.html"&gt;Myanmar junta offers to meet Suu Kyi&lt;/a&gt; - AFP&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-8422246723061169940?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/8422246723061169940/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=8422246723061169940' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/8422246723061169940'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/8422246723061169940'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/10/watching-pakistans-bhutto-musharraf.html' title=''/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-5224321635876312242</id><published>2007-10-04T20:30:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-10-04T20:38:59.756-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='blog'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='protests'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Burma'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Free Burma'/><title type='text'>Free Burma! - International Bloggers' Day</title><content type='html'>&lt;!-- Free Burma! Image --&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.free-burma.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://freeburma.s3.amazonaws.com/free_burma_02.jpg" alt="Free Burma!" border="0" height="165" width="434" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today is International Bloggers' Day in support of the protesting monks in Myanmar.  This will be quick because there's only 28 minutes left in the day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I think it is a beautiful thing that the &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;peaceful protesting&lt;/span&gt; of a religious group can draw planet-wide attention, and that it is partially due to the resource of the Internet.  If you are smart and want people to really pay attention, you use the Internet to your advantage, and you shall succeed.  If you can make enough noise, everyone will look eventually.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;!-- End Free Burma! Image --&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-5224321635876312242?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/5224321635876312242/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=5224321635876312242' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/5224321635876312242'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/5224321635876312242'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/10/free-burma-international-bloggers-day.html' title='Free Burma! - International Bloggers&apos; Day'/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-7247211451312101315</id><published>2007-10-03T18:55:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-10-03T19:03:01.759-07:00</updated><title type='text'>NKorea agrees to declare, disable nuclear programmes</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.wapt.com/2007/1002/14249606.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 222px; height: 167px;" src="http://www.wapt.com/2007/1002/14249606.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;h2 style="font-weight: normal;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;Link: &lt;a href="http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/071003184415.2vnk76k7.html"&gt;Agence France-Presse&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Proof that diplomacy actually is actually still capable of working, contrary to the Bush Administration's insistence that "these people [sic]" are too far gone into "evil" (Axis of Evil, of course) to be negotiated with, that political moves are futile and martial law must be put in place.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;War is uncivilized.  War is honestly needless destruction.  I'm not a pacifist, I'm not a hippie, I'm not an anti-war protester, although I sympathize with all these ideas, as I do with other opposing views, as well.  Everyone has a &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;good point&lt;/span&gt;.  But the wars America wages, especially as of late, violate so many human rights that its impossible to support with good conscience.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, at least some people still know how to talk, and to use it to their advantage.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-7247211451312101315?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/7247211451312101315/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=7247211451312101315' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/7247211451312101315'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/7247211451312101315'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/10/nkorea-agrees-to-declare-disable.html' title='NKorea agrees to declare, disable nuclear programmes'/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-1513282178323439583</id><published>2007-10-02T23:01:00.001-07:00</published><updated>2007-10-02T23:03:26.179-07:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>Robert Malley, President William Jefferson Clinton's former senior adviser for the Middle East, came in to talk with us today.  Ultimately, what we/I got was that he is entirely skeptical that George Bush's Middle East summit scheduled for November is going to be in any way successful.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So I thought.  But what are the implications, if failure is imminent?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-1513282178323439583?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/1513282178323439583/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=1513282178323439583' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/1513282178323439583'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/1513282178323439583'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/10/robert-malley-president-william.html' title=''/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-4547926343059423316</id><published>2007-10-02T19:34:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-10-02T19:44:33.462-07:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.foxnews.com/images/242678/0_62_112906_NKorea_KimJongIl.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 189px; height: 142px;" src="http://www.foxnews.com/images/242678/0_62_112906_NKorea_KimJongIl.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Am currently keeping an eye on &lt;a href="http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/071002235336.u66ljgza.html"&gt;this developing summit&lt;/a&gt; between North and South Korea.  One must smile and hope for the best of situations at all times, and grab at the potential good news when the rest of the world seems to be imploding upon itself.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, you never know.  Maybe this summit will lead to negotiations and possible reconciliations between the Koreas, and will be a beacon of hope for everyone idealistically wishing world peace were actually possible, and can be a model, however foolishly, for the rest of the warring nations to follow (ha, yeah right).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Is Chairman Kim seriously interested in peace?  What are the motives on each side?  What could be gained?  What might be lost?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;"It is up to us whether we can play a leading role in establishing a new order of peace in Northeast Asia," [South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun] told a dinner hosted by Kim Yong-Nam.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So maybe my idea isn't so far-fetched.  Maybe not the Middle East, but certainly parts of Asia... It's a "start."  Not that peace is a path leading to a pot of gold and rainbows and eternal bliss.  Creatures of war, we are, but since it is our nature, what can we do but to fight?  Peace happens in some places but not in others, and then the world changes and the cycles shift, and peace shifts too.  Thus is the world.&lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-4547926343059423316?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/4547926343059423316/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=4547926343059423316' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/4547926343059423316'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/4547926343059423316'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/10/am-currently-keeping-eye-on-this.html' title=''/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-6809357264685631009</id><published>2007-10-01T19:38:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-10-01T19:44:10.745-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='US gov'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Afghanistan'/><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>I'm reading &lt;a href="http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/071001201518.9msir9st.html"&gt;this article &lt;/a&gt;on AFP, and am struck by a few things.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"&gt;The posters and billboards, offering between 20,000 and 200,000 dollars for the capture of a dozen "wanted" Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters, will be put up in eastern Afghanistan, US Sergeant Dean Welch told AFP.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;The part that really bugs me is that the campaign is really looking for &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;twelve &lt;/span&gt;members of these terrorist organizations, and they're offering only 20-200k for the &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;capture&lt;/span&gt; of these men?  It seems like these twelve are seriously important, but they're only worth a couple hundred grand at best?  Sure, that's a lot of money, especially in Afghanistan, and yet that's bull compared to what the US government is capable of offering, since these men are so significant that they warrant a poster campaign seeking their capture.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Just me.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-6809357264685631009?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/6809357264685631009/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=6809357264685631009' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/6809357264685631009'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/6809357264685631009'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/10/im-reading-this-article-on-afp-and-am.html' title=''/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-8777701486595626315</id><published>2007-09-28T13:24:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-09-28T13:37:21.284-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='personal'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='peace'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='war'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='school'/><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>Yesterday on my campus, the Marines came a-recruitin', as they do because federal money allows them to.  I suppose I don't get to object, because I go to a public university, and I'm not opposed to people voluntarily joining the military.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My campus's anti-war groups got together and began marching and protesting directly in front of the recruiter's table.  It was certainly an effective move, no one wanted to be there long with this weirdo old guy screaming at them through a bullhorn.  Not that I think the guy was a weirdo, he's quite nice, I've spoken with him once or twice.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I was conflicted.  For all that I oppose this war (and most wars), I don't oppose national security.  And for all that I don't oppose national security, I don't like the idea of the Marines being there to recruit because my campus would lose federal funding otherwise.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But most of all I am opposed to the propaganda both sides used.  So I couldn't in good conscience pick up a sign and start protesting against the recruiters, and I couldn't in good conscience support the recruiters presence on my campus.  All I wanted to do was stand in the middle with my "Peace On Earth" t-shirt and flash the peace sign at all who passed.  "Make love, not war, unless you have to."&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-8777701486595626315?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/8777701486595626315/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=8777701486595626315' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/8777701486595626315'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/8777701486595626315'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/09/yesterday-on-my-campus-marines-came.html' title=''/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-750281906811507104</id><published>2007-09-26T22:01:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-09-28T13:37:49.610-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='protests'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='news'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='famous pictures'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Burma'/><title type='text'>Myanmar Monks protesting</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/SGE.DQY73.270907033159.photo00.quicklook.default-245x182.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/SGE.DQY73.270907033159.photo00.quicklook.default-245x182.jpg" alt="" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've been watching the monks protesting in Myanmar this whole week or so... It's so interesting and beautiful and terrifying all at once.  So much more interesting than mostly everything that happens in American politics lately - American politics look like a clown car exploded inside government offices.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Of course, monks protesting in Asia is reminiscent of &lt;a href="http://www.lyfe.freeserve.co.uk/art/photobrowne.jpg"&gt;what famous image from the 1960's&lt;/a&gt;?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I guess I'm starved for something really important and memorable.  Maybe my generation looks at the Sixties and sees, "Wow, it looks like they actually accomplished something then!  We need to do that too!"  What we forget is, regardless, history happens.  We have to make the choice to be an active part of it or not, but we also have to remember that the world is so different from the 1960's.  That's hard to remember ... Mass student revolts against multiple social injustices aren't possible now because they've already happened in the past.  But we try: 10,000 people go to Jena, Louisiana to protest an injustice that gained serious popularity in the media.  Thousands of people turn out in the streets of New York City to protest Ahmadinejad's presence here (waste of a protest, if you ask me).  We want to do something "huge," something "important."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, what do we do?  Where is our big Berkeley-Columbia-SDS movement?  Where is our Chicago Seven?  Not those things specifically, of course, but what is our big movement?  Who are our leaders?  Where do we get to fight our battles?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I guess that is yet to be seen.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-750281906811507104?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/750281906811507104/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=750281906811507104' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/750281906811507104'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/750281906811507104'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/09/myanmar-monks-protesting.html' title='Myanmar Monks protesting'/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-6880690417326802413</id><published>2007-09-24T11:16:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-09-28T13:38:34.901-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='news'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Ahmadinejad'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Iran'/><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>"They are painting him as Public Enemy Number One."&lt;br /&gt;"But he is, Fawaz!  He is!" - CNN Reporter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Please stop representing the American people as idiots.  Thanks.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-6880690417326802413?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/6880690417326802413/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=6880690417326802413' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/6880690417326802413'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/6880690417326802413'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/09/they-are-painting-him-as-public-enemy.html' title=''/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1168068986723750162.post-4885561469763137076</id><published>2007-09-24T11:06:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2007-09-28T13:38:10.222-07:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='news'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Ahmadinejad'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Iran'/><title type='text'>I am watching history happen right now.</title><content type='html'>Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is speaking.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One, two, three Columbias.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1168068986723750162-4885561469763137076?l=ilanaesther.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/feeds/4885561469763137076/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1168068986723750162&amp;postID=4885561469763137076' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/4885561469763137076'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/1168068986723750162/posts/default/4885561469763137076'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://ilanaesther.blogspot.com/2007/09/i-am-watching-history-happen-right-now.html' title='I am watching history happen right now.'/><author><name>Ilana</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/07851559563533862618</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/91/56/3616751/n3616751_34839161_3652.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>
