2004-11-04

New Link

She's a frum Jew living in Jerusalem but she'd like you to know she's Bostonian by birth. She has few kind words for SwissAir at the moment. She's willing to forgive us (I think) for electing Bush. And to learn more about her, you can take her quasi-annual quiz. She's Chayyei Sarah, and I'm linking her this week, in honor of her Parasha.

The Mesopotamian at One Year

Alaa at The Mesopotamian celebrates a year of blogging. He also posts on the American elections:
Friends, tears came twice to these old eyes yesterday; once in sadness, and once in happiness. The first was because of a sad event. Sheikh Zayid Bin Sultan Al Nahayan the ruler and founder of the United Arab Emirates passed away. Now this man is one of the very few Arab leaders who really had the affection and appreciation of the Iraqi people. He led his barren land which has no rivers, no mountains and hardly any assets apart from some oil, and not much of it, to be one of the most prosperous and advanced countries in the middle east. His wisdom, mildness and kindness helped to create a real gem on the shore of the Arabian Gulf. God rest the soul of this friend of the Iraqi people and great benefactor to his people. Inna Lillah Wa Inna Ileihi Rajioun.

The second time they were tears of emotion and happiness. As I saw the American people turn out in record numbers, to say their word. And it seems to be the word of defiance and courage. Despite all the propaganda and the feverish campaign, the American people have proved something very important, although the final conclusion still seems to be not official, but every indication is that this is only a matter of little time. This is a most significant and far reaching event. It was most gratifying to see the discomfiture and hardly disguised rancor of Al Jazeera commentators as the results started to take a definite direction. I believe that this outcome and the record turn out have largely for their motivation the considerations that we have in common and which I mentioned in my previous posts. ...

All those who have been following my blog from the start should know how I feel towards El Bush, the Avenger, the Lion-Heart and I cannot hide my happiness for this outcome, purely from a personal feeling of gratitude for what he has done for us, despite all the pain and hardships that we suffered and still do. But the objective is so great and so important that all sacrifices and difficulties pale when contemplating the benefits and goals that are hoped for.

The Mesopotamian, November 3 (scroll to post date)

Read the whole thing at the link.

Kounting the Kost

Little Green Footballs gleefully reports all fifteen Congressional candidates endorsed by Markos Zuniga of The Daily Kos have lost.

"Inconceivable"

British foreign secretary Jack Straw has stated that a US attack on Iran is "inconceivlable", according to this BBC report.

However, a document recently discovered by researchers at Dreams Into Lightning strongly suggests that the British government does not make foreign policy for the United States.

In fact, Iranian activists are increasingly concerned about the role of the British government in Iran. Back in August, Michael Grove wrote:

There is no longer any excuse for Mr Straw to cling to the corpse of a failed policy, nor for others to acquiesce silently in his folly. We need to work now to support the appetite for democracy among the Iranian people just as we gave hope to Soviet dissidents and Polish trade unionists in the 1980s — by backing those who broadcast the truth to the oppressed, funding those who will organise for change and showing those who are really the West’s friends that we know a shared enemy when we see one.

Wise counsel. Is Jack Straw listening?

Morning Report: November 4, 2004

Arafat's condition grave. At this hour, media reports state that Yasser Arafat is in a coma and is in critical condition. A recent bulletin at Ha'Aretz quotes a French doctor as saying the aged terrorist has "no chance" of coming out of his coma. Israeli security forces are bracing for Palestinian violence in the event of Arafat's death.

Update

With the elections over, I'm turning my attention to some long-neglected projects, both here in the blogosphere and in real life. Here at Dreams Into Lightning I'm organizing and expanding my list of outgoing links. Please feel free to explore! Also I'm returning to some of the other sites I keep at Blogger, some of which I've mentioned here before.

Urban Renewal is a collection of writings from my father, Ken McLintock (1919-2000). I've just posted a couple more pieces of his poetry. His collection of WWII writing (by himself and other men in his unit) is at Pacific Driftwood.

A little about Vietnam. Dad wrote a longish poem in 1969 about the Vietnam war. Both of my parents were opposed to the war, not because they were pacifists (they weren't) or because they hated America (they didn't), but because, based on their convictions and on the information available to them, they believed it was "the wrong war". Their opinions were formed, in part, on the basis of allegations of atrocities by American soldiers in Vietnam - many of which have since been exposed as vicious lies. My father, a mild-mannered and sensitive man and always a lefty at heart, came across a magazine called Liberation that published such allegations - made, perhaps, by a certain John Kerry. I am still debating whether or not to post "In the Periodical Room" as a testament to how a good man was cruelly deceived.

My sister, Stephanie McLintock, was a very gifted poet and writer who died young (she was 28). I'm posting her work at The Sun, Consuming Itself.

My portfolio of student work will probably be updated soon. Currently it has some of my papers from English and multicultural studies classes. I reserve the right to edit, correct, and delete any embarrassingly bad work!

The Ocean Names of Night will be my homepage for original creative writing. Currently posted are three pieces of short science fiction and an original translation/commentary on the Kabbalistic text, "The 32 Paths of Wisdom".

Other updates will be posted here as they happen.

Iranian People Welcome Bush Re-Election

SMCCDI News:

Millions of Iranians expressed their satisfaction of the outcome of the US Presidential elections and George W. Bush's victory by calling and congratulating each other or waling in the streets and shaking each others hands or showing the V sign.

Many are speaking about the promises made by Mr. Bush to back the Iranian Nation in its quest for freedom and democracy.

As Iranians and especially the younger generations have become happy , those affiliated to the Islamic regime are seen deeply worried about their future based on crimes and corruption.

The regime and its US based known apologists and lobbyists had tried hard to make fear to Iranians on the outcome of a Bush win. Money was poured by controversial individuals, such as Akbar Ghahary the treasurer of IAPAC, to money oriented TV and radio networks, such as, 670 AM, Tamasha TV, Melli TV and a specific program of Apadana TV hosted by an ideologist named Faramarz Foroozandeh.

But all these desperate tries were not able to lure the Iranians of inside and nor especially the members of the Diaspora.

Witnessing such fiasco, the Islamic regime tried hard to bring the few thousands of professional demonstrators for its organized celebration of the 1979 attack against the US Embassy in Tehran. It's to note that the Iranian Capital has over 12 millions of inhabitants and that the today's official commemoration of one of the main Islamist act of terror ecountered another massive popular rejection.

2004-11-03

The Next Generation ...

... has just earned his yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do. Just got the word from his mom, down in California. And he'll be coming up here to visit over Thanksgiving weekend - that's going to be fun!

Let's blogroll!

An ailing Wretchard reflects on the unfairness of time's irreversible arrow, which forces us to drive by looking in the rear-view mirror.

Serenity just can't get it right ... she's too reverent for some readers, and too coarse for others. I'd be bitter, too.

Kat at The Middle Groundtakes on the liberal misreading of "mainfest destiny".

Morning Report: November 3, 2004

Bush wins popular vote; Kerry contests Ohio. Dreams Into Lightning has no particular contribution to make to the presidential election coverage, so we will simply note that it appears certain that President George W. Bush will emerge as the winner of the 2004 election. We will post on any significant developments.

GOP keeps control of Congress, may expand Senate lead. The Republican Party has retained its House majority and appears set to expand its lead in the Senate. News reports showed Senate minority leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota trailing his Republican challenger John Thune.

Karzai wins Afghan election. Hamid Karzai has won the Afghan presidency in the first such election in the history of Afghanistan. According to the AP story on Karzai's election, 'The country's joint U.N.-Afghan electoral board confirmed that the American-backed incumbent had clinched a five-year term as the country's first popularly chosen leader.' Electoral board chairman Zakim Shah said Karzai won 55.4 percent support in the Oct. 9 election, 39 points clear of his closest challenger and enough to avoid a second round.

UAE president dies. The President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, has died. Analysts expect a reasonably smooth transfer of power as Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid al-Maktoum assumes acting presidency for 30 days while UAE's ruling council chooses a new president. Mahmoud carries a tribute. The BBC covers Zayed's death.

Bush Wins Popular Vote

By approximately 51% to 48%, or 55,662,415 votes against 51,904,364 at last count, President George W. Bush has won the support of the majority of American voters for re-election. At this hour several states are still in play, and challenger John Kerry has questioned the Ohio vote, which brought Bush 20 electoral votes and put him within 1 EV of the 270-vote threshold needed to win the presidency. Stay tuned.

Voters defeat gay marriage ... this time.

Gay marriage lost out in eleven out of eleven state ballots, but supporters must realize that this is just the beginning of the struggle. Ampersand at Alas, a Blog says it better than I can.