[AGL] there's a real world out there with independent actors benton mischief

[Gerry]

Did any of you see the movie (wish I could remember the name...) about the two young Palestinians (early 20's) who decide to become martyrs? It was sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, began with a bio of each of them, followed with each of them having his death video, then after they are loaded and wired the mission has to be aborted when they are discovered and they are running from the authorities while carrying their deadly load, one of them has to sleep in the wilderness while still wired and loaded. In the end one of them decides not to go. The other makes it into Tel Aviv and gets on a bus filled with Israeli soldiers. The final shot is a hot white screen and silence.

It was one of the flicks shown by the local film society. I doubt it was distributed very widely.

Anyhow, it moved me. The portrayal of life in Palestine for a young man (or woman) was especially sad. Probably no sadder than the many scenes from the recent bombing of Lebanon. Remember that? No longer in the news, wonder what's happening there now? Remember Gaza? We are talking DESPERATION here. Oh yeah, remember when the Israeli army was always a leadpipe cinch to dominate against any Arab force it chose to encounter? Since the little skirmish with Hezbollah this is no longer the case.  I hate to say it but the Israeli Army looked like the US Army out there, fumbling, bungling, and not knowing exactly what it was they were supposed to be doing, tanks against guerilla fighters armed with anti-tank missiles, a bad way to go. The mystique is gone now. In Gaza they are building very crude rockets by hand and sending them toward Israel. Most of them don't make it that far, hell on the local cows and crops.They can destroy a country but not win a war. Lots of new recruits for Hamas and Hezbollah. (The US Army should be so lucky, now sending guys to Iraq for their 4th and 5th missions. Madness, next they will be clearing the jails to find able bodied fighting men...while the college boys party and paint themselves up in the school colors for football games.)  Long dialogues in the New Yorker with various components of the current players in the Middle East drama. They come and go but since the Barak/Arafat drama there has been no progress toward any kind of real settlement...let;let's face it, not in our lifetimes.

I'm so sick of Morning Edition on NPR, trying to be cute and trendy yuppies at least half the time while the world goes up in smoke. Who is in charge of that crap? Don't they get it? The latest actual count is over 68,000 American troupes either killed of wounded or crazy in the war. No end in sight. Meanwhile public radio is fawning over rockabilly heroes of the '50's. I am now only listening at the top of the hour when they give their version of the hard news. Oh yeah, I like to hear Nina Totenburg's legal reports, simply the best in that arena. Rene Montagne? Steve Inskeep? Huh? The only word that fits is "compromised".

Meanwhile, on the ground, I am having a fine harvest. 15" of rain between July and early September does wonders for the plants that don't wash away, BIG sweet peppers and eggplant and tomatoes, etc. Running the dehydrator most of the day to create winter stash. It's funny, once I step outside the house and into the garden all that crap on the radio fades away and I am in the other world, nature. Now, if the county would only send the road grader to fix my badly washed and only temporarily fixed (by my hand) road, I would be in fine shape for winter. The word is that this will be another El Nino winter. Cutting lots of wood...Love it!

Hope you all have a refuge from the news. I recommend gardening or at least hiking away from the city. Get outside let the crap pass you by for awhile...real time.

G






  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: michelemason 
  To: survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s 
  Cc: michelemason 
  Sent: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 6:16 AM
  Subject: Re: [AGL] there's a real world out there with independent actors benton mischief


  "nonsensical evil" —I like that Frances. mm

  On Sep 25, 2006, at 4:31 PM, Frances Morey wrote:


    I'm sick of the new boogy men having labels that describe borderless and geographically mysterious suicidal ideologues who become human bomb delivery boys, (occasionally girls). They are sensless slayers whose most poisonous effect is to provide fodder for the media maw that keeps us fearfully enthralled and engaged in war. Mischief is too small a word for this kind of nonsensical evil.
    Frances

    Michael Eisenstadt <michaele at ando.pair.com> wrote:

      Al-Qaida could use non-Arabs to attack Israel By Ze-ev Schiff, Haaretz
      Correspondent
      Shin Bet and other intelligence units have been put on special alert after
      Ayman Al-Zawahiri, an Al-Qaida strongman and Osama Bin Laden's deputy, said
      Israel was on Al-Qaida's list of upcoming targets. Intelligence sources said
      Al-Qaida could try to execute a surprise attack using non-Arabs.

      Zawahiri is believed to be taking over the leadership of Al-Qaida, due to 
      Bin Laden's illness. Zawahiri and Bin Laden have apparently disagreed over
      whether Al-Qaida's next target should be in a Western state or in the Middle
      East. Bin Laden wanted to act in the United States and Europe while
      Zawahiri, who is of Egyptian origin, wished to achieve goals in the Middle
      East; namely, Israel and the Arab states that cooperate with it.

      Zawahiri pushed to set up Al-Qaida cells in Sinai, taking advantage of the
      Bedouin economic plight to carry out terror attacks against Egyptian targets
      and Israeli tourists. He initiated terror acts in Jordan causing dozens of 
      fatalities and was behind the idea to intercept an aircraft carrying Israeli
      tourists to East Africa and attack the hotel where Israelis were staying in 
      2002.



      About two weeks ago, on the anniversary of September 11, Zawahiri warned in 
      a video recording that Israel and the Gulf states could be Al-Qaida's next
      targets of attack. Such attacks would be aimed at destroying the Western
      economy. Israel increased its preparations for a preemptive strike following
      his warning.

      Israel assumes that Al-Qaida will try to recruit non-Arabs to act against
      Israel, as it tried to enlist Africans for the attacks in East Africa..
      Israel knew of this activity, but had difficulty cooperating with the
      Americans to thwart it. However, Israel's cooperation with European
      intelligence brought about the arrest of Al-Qaida people in East Africa.

      The most commonly cited surprise attack in Israel was the bombing of Mike's
      Place in Tel Aviv by two Britons of Pakistani origin who were sent by 
      Al-Qaida.

      The two, who smuggled explosives into Israel, moved freely between Israel
      and the territories with their British passports. About a month ago, British
      authorities exposed British-born Al-Qaida activists of Pakistani origin, who
      were planning to crash passenger airplanes over the ocean with liquid
      explosives.

      Another possibility Al-Qaida is believed to be considering is infiltrating
      Israel via Lebanon.

      Israel today faces two main fundamentalist groups - Sunni Al-Qaida and
      Shi'ite Hezbollah.

      Hezbollah is set on harming Israel, but it is hardly likely at this stage to 
      allow Al-Qaida to act independently in Lebanon without supervision.




    Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min.
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