Yasser Arafat dies


Arafat 1929-2004 Posted by Hello

Yasser Arafat had flown to France a while ago to be hospitalized. Reports have floated around saying that he had died, only to be retracted a few hours later. Most people, however, knew that this guy was approaching the end. Finally, a couple hours ago, it appears that he has actually died.

Now that he has finally died, I think it will be interesting to see how the power dynamics in Palestine will be shifting. I admit, I don't know what his death is going to do to affect the relationship between the Palestinians and the Israelis and their relationship to the Americans. Perhaps more importantly, how is the Palestinian leadership going to handle their people? Will the system that is in place now fail without Arafat? As I write, I am looking at live pictures of Palestine from CNN. Right now, the area is waking to this news. What are they thinking? What are they feeling?

While I don't particularly mourn this person, I will certainly not celebrate it either. For me, he has failed to make lasting headway into the peace process. I know there will be some who will be glad he is gone but I am just holding my breath. Now, let's see how history unfolds.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meet Bob

Image
 I ordered my Ford Escape PHEV on October 13, 2022 and I finally took delivery on September 1, 2023. h/t to my salesman Meet Bob. Actually, I thought I would come up with a better name since my last car was named Patty because I got her on St. Patrick's Day. But after spending about three minutes trying to think of something clever, I threw in the towel and settled on Bob. So this is a base model PHEV. It doesn't have things like a heads up display, 360 degree camera, premium audio system, etc. Mind you, I came from a base fiesta. Patty had roll-down windows and didn't even have cruise control. This is a very big upgrade for me. A little over two weeks in, I've hit 1,000 miles. I've tried to force some non-ev time. I'm not sure what kind of engine break in is needed for this. I figured I should do some of that and get its first oil change before I head down to Florida with it in November. So far, just one and one-quarter tanks of gas used. Averaging 86 mpg. Most
Read more

Be fruitful and multiply...by ten.

Some coworkers and I were talking about that lady in Arkansas that just delivered her 17th child. The Associated Press announced the good news a couple days ago and I remembered the family from the Discovery Channel . The Duggar family had been the subject of a number of specials dealing with large families. They are especially memorable given that the number of kids as well as their, well, peculiar lifestyle. The people that I was talking to balked at the idea of having that many kids with a few of them openly calling the Duggar parents crazy. I have to admit, I think that they are little bonkers in the head too. But you know, that’s cool on the other hand too. And it’s actually impressive that they are able to afford to have such a large family. There are some parts of me that would like to have a large family. (My definition of large stops at five kids just so you know.) But their criticisms largely used the Duggars' religious faith. From what this article indicated, they are pa
Read more

Whatever happened to the Queer Golden Rule?

Image
Wow, Tyler Whitney is popping up all over the gay blogging circuit but the rest of America doesn’t care. Mr. Whitney is an 18 year old staffer for a Republican candidate for President. He was outed. This has caused a little firestorm amongst the gay bloggies with many calling this guy a bigot, an a-hole, and even worse. The way some people have responded to this, Mr. Whitney is fit to be tied to the stake and burned for not being a good little gay. I do not deny that Mr. Whitney has done some pretty offensive stuff. Carrying anti-gay placards that aren’t even fit to be called “homophobic” certainly strikes points against him. However, as I read more about him the more I genuinely feel the need to reach out and hug him. Because I know that he has got to be feeling pretty alone. He’s getting grief from two communities who are openly hostile to which he belongs -conservatives and gays. I have to ask though, is he really deserving of such scorn? Look, his “crime” is working for an
Read more