For Palestine

First of all, Ego, with regards to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran: I respect the man very much. I might not agree with some of his ideas, but I respect the man for his courage and patriotism. The strength of his spirit is admirable. And I have to say he is very charismatic.

Osama Bin Laden is not the type of passive martyr Stephen was, but he is a martyr all the same. He is giving up a life of luxury to fight for what he believes is right. He is not fighting to get women in heaven; he is fighting for a future in which Islam will once more be respected, and once again, there will be a united Islamic umma. His strength is also admirable, although I disagree with his ideas vehemently. These people are like the French resistance fighting against the occupation of Nazi Germany during the Second World War. America has never experienced the desperation of being a country overrun with foreign occupiers who treat the native people like dirt. The Palestinian ‘terrorists’ are not so different from the French Freedom Fighters who fought against the Nazis and Chinese guerrillas who fought against their Japanese occupiers during WWII.

 

This brings us to the Palestinian problem. I will outline my views.

Palestine is a nation in exile. Millions of people have been driven from their homes by Israeli forces which are backed by the United States of America. This has caused the Palestinian people to associate oppression and occupation with the main religions of their occupiers; Judaism and Christianity. What they are really fighting for is a nation.

Christian Bale and World Events

Thursday 24 July 2008, The Press, CHCH.

No, I’m not going to blog about Christian Bale and his life; that’s his business. Truth be told, I’m more interested in the newspaper itself. It’s very interesting actually. Notice how the headline about Mr. Bale has a bigger font than the one about the man who did something nasty with a bulldozer? Moreover, the former is higher than the latter, and the fact that they’re on the same page in the world news section really does say a lot.

The newspaper tells us that as a society or a species, we are very nosy. We want to know other people’s deepest darkest secrets. That’s why the headline about Mr. Bale is very big. The editors of the newspaper probably want people to see it, get interested, and buy the paper. And if they didn’t know that we would be more interested in Christian Bale than, say, the plight of the Palestinian people, why would they give him a bigger headline?

It also shows us how trivial we have become. Since when did gossip about famous actors become worthy headlines in world news? Not that I don’t read gossip, but the world news section is presumably for news which has some sort of world impact. As good an actor as Christian Bale is, I highly doubt he has any effect on world events which can influence the fate of the human species. Lots of people assault others, and if every person who was accused of assaulting someone was mentioned in the news, we’d have newspapers as thick as the Oxford Dictionary. So really, world news should be saved for those really important things, such as the rebirth of the Taliban in Afghanistan, or the state of affairs in Iraq, or Israel and Iran’s latest confrontation and another rise in oil prices…you get my idea.

It’s a sad world, isn’t it, when people are more interested in the private business of actors than things which could actually affect their lives. ‘How?’ you say. ‘Iran and Israel are really far away. I live all the way in Australia/Brazil/the United States/Japan/New Caledonia/England. It’s not going to affect me.’ The fact is, the world is like a row of dominoes. One domino toppling over will hit another domino, causing it to fall, and so on and so on…you know, the Domino Effect. Israel and Iran going to war would cause oil prices to soar, and since most things in this world need oil, your wallet is going to be a lot lighter. Now, perhaps obesity is a bad thing, but I’ve never heard of anyone complaining that their wallet is too heavy.

As for Christian Bale’s business? Well, it’s his business. Let’s leave it at that.