Unqualified Offerings is surprised to hear about Syrian Kurds. In fact, Kurds are mainly divided in four countries: 13 million in Turkey, 4.6 million in Iran, 4.2 million in Iraq, and up to 1.6 million in Syria. In addition, there are around 65,000 Kurds in Armenia. There might even be a small number in Azerbaijan.… Continue reading Kurds
Free Trade But Only If It Helps Us
According to AP, The Bush administration, trying to energize flagging global trade talks, announced Tuesday that it will seek the total elimination of all tariffs on manufactured goods [emphasis mine] over the next 13 years. When I read this news, the words “manufactured goods” jumped out at me. I would guess that this proposal will… Continue reading Free Trade But Only If It Helps Us
WSJ Editorial: The Non-Taxpaying Class
E.J. Dionne, Tim Noah and Josh Marshall are making fun of the Wall Street Journal editorial last week which basically says: [A]s fewer and fewer people are responsible for paying more and more of all taxes, the constituency for tax cutting, much less for tax reform, is eroding. Workers who pay little or no taxes… Continue reading WSJ Editorial: The Non-Taxpaying Class
Frontline “In Search of Al Qaeda”
I just watched the PBS show online. It’s interesting. The complete show in available online in Media Player and Real media formats. There is also some material on the website that wasn’t on the show itself. The Al Qaeda supporting woman, from Yemen I believe, near the end of the program spooked me: “I love… Continue reading Frontline “In Search of Al Qaeda”
Movies
Here are the movies we are planning to see over the thanksgiving weekend: Die Another Day: I have always been a fan of James Bond movies. They are basically mindless fun. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: My wife likes Harry Potter.
Upper Yosemite Falls
A tough hike to the top of these falls…
Double Standards
Yes I believe in them! Not exactly, though I do hold democracies to a higher standard. So you might find me writing a few paragraphs criticizing some small aspect of policy of the US, EU or Israel while sort of glossing over big problems in Iraq or North Korea and you might yell “prejudice” or… Continue reading Double Standards
Look of Blog using Netscape
From my logs I have noticed that a number of my visitors are using browsers other than MSIE (Netscape, Opera, etc.) I would appreciate comments on how this site looks in those browsers? Please leave comments or email me.
Past or the Future
One final comment about the Arab-Israeli conflict before I get back to work: There is definitely a need to understand the conflict and its history. However, the Israelis and Palestinians need to understand not just the history from their side’s point of view but the opposing side’s as well. Although history is important, the solution… Continue reading Past or the Future
Jewish Settlers and Israeli Arabs as obstacle to Peace
One reason for my pessimism for a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the feckless Palestinian leadership. The other is the issue of Jewish settlers in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and ironically the Israeli Arabs. It is basically a demographic issue. According to the CIA World Factbook, there are about 365,000 Jewish settlers… Continue reading Jewish Settlers and Israeli Arabs as obstacle to Peace