This is the second lengthy outtage in recent days.
Not that it matters much to me, just a poor schmuck trying to reach 10K hits in my meager aims for ego-stroking. Unfortunately for others, the Blogrolling service can actually have an economic impact.
That, and it hampers my ability to read my blogroll. I may have to reconsider my means of listing those sites I enjoy reading.
Perhaps Blogrolling.com has too much of a sway over the current make-up of the blogosphere. Hmmm…
The United Nations has an image problem among many Americans.
Surprised? Of course you’re not. Despite its success as a political arena during the Cold War, a Coliseum for the diplomatic gladiators of the U.S. and the Soviets, the UN has long since strayed from its hopeful origins and purposes. At its best, it is bungling. At its worst, it is incredibly corrupt. In between lies the norm — spineless token gestures, misguided and half-hearted forays, hollow words and resolutions.
Now, the UN wants to correct its image in the eyes of Americans with a planned revamping of the UN Human Rights Commission.
The United Nations is out of touch with most Americans, who think the beleaguered organization has abandoned its mission to keep peace and protect human rights around the world, says U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s chief of staff.
“In a very real way, we seem to have lost touch with the great middle in America, a middle which very much believes in the aspirational ideas of the U.N. … and who feel that we’ve drifted away from a commitment to human rights, a commitment to help the poor of the world,” Mark Malloch Brown said yesterday.
The United Nations is under fire for several scandals including the oil-for-food program, charges of sexual abuse by U.N. peacekeeping forces and the resignation of a top official accused of sexual harassment, which Mr. Malloch Brown addressed in an exclusive interview with “Fox News Sunday.”
The organization will propose changes in the coming weeks to begin repairing its reputation by revamping its “human rights machinery” to keep dictator nations off the U.N. Human Rights Commission.
Governments making up the current membership include Cuba, Sudan, Zimbabwe and Saudi Arabia. Libya is the outgoing chair of the committee.
The plan would “try and restore the credibility of this and have people on that commission who really are people of stature and reputation and record and come from countries of the same thing, with real human rights standing in the world,” Mr. Malloch Brown said.
Go give it a read, as it does a good job of listing the current hot-button problems — chiefly, the oil-for-food scandal, subsequent investigations, and the allegations of atrocities by UN peacekeepers. Noticably absent is any mention of the organization’s horrible track record of its treatment of Israel vis-a-vis the surrounding despotic Arab states, but that would require too much honesty in the face of too much hatred and opportunism.
How far has the UN fallen? They know they have a problem that they plan to address, and still I am sadly confident that they will fail to do anything more than change some window dressing.
In the latest turn in a game of rally and counter-rally, tremendous numbers gathered in Beirut to protest Syrian influence in Lebanon.
Hundreds of thousands of opposition demonstrators chanted “Freedom, sovereignty, independence†and unfurled a huge Lebanese flag in Beirut on Monday, the biggest protest yet in the opposition’s duel of street rallies with supporters of the Damascus-backed government.
Robert Mayer at Publius Pundit provides a thorough and updated round-up of coverage of what he’s calling a “human tsunami” in Beirut.
Greyhawk, founder of the MilBlogs, has hit the twenty-year milestone in his service to our country. Blackfive covers it well (hat tip to Grim’s Hall).
Thank you, Greyhawk. Thank you very much for your service and sacrifice.
The Texas A&M Aggiess have topped off a dramatic turnaround season with an chance at the National Invitation Tournament. The Ags will host Clemson (16-15) Wednesday, March 16, at 7:30 p.m.
The draw is formidable, with the likes of Notre Dame, DePaul, Missouri and St. Joseph’s in the Ags’ quarter of the bracket. I don’t care. I’m not greedy — I just want one postseason win to cap off a season that saw the Aggies go from 0-16 in conference play to 8-8. Just one and I’m happy.
Time magazine is reporting that terrorist Abu Mousab al-Zarqawi is wanting to strike inside the U.S., according to fresh information garnered from captured members of the bastard’s barbaric network.
According to a restricted bulletin that circulated among U.S. security agencies last week, the interrogated aide said al-Zarqawi has talked about hitting “soft targets” in the U.S., which could include “movie theaters, restaurants and schools.”
The list of possible targets is typical of the kind of monsters we’re facing. Anybody remember Beslan? Or the Israeli pizzarias and nightclubs?
They will hit here. I’ve said before that I’m surprised they haven’t already. However, I’m not sure that Zarqawi has the resources, as he’s currently busy with creating as much mayhem as he can in Iraq while working feverishly to save his own hide. While he remains in active in Iraq, his ability to reach elsewhere with any significance. A small smattering of attacks in the U.S. are not going to affect American will and could increase demands for harsher action.
Oh, and can we do something soon about securing our borders?
Now that Hamas has decided to participate in the upcoming Palestinian parliamentary contests, Yasser Arafat’s old Fatah henchmen are concerned about a severe blow to their own power.
The Palestinians’ ruling Fatah movement, tainted by corruption and cronyism, is increasingly worried it will get trounced by political upstart Hamas in parliamentary elections.
The Islamic militant group issued its challenge over the weekend, saying it will compete in the July 17 vote after avoiding such a showdown for the past decade.
Hamas has shown no signs it wants to bring down Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, and the violent movement, which has carried out scores of attacks on Israelis since its founding in 1987, appears to be satisfied with transforming itself into a strong opposition party. However, if Hamas wins control of parliament or even a large chunk of the seats, it could hamper Abbas’ ability to negotiate a peace deal with Israel.
Realistically, it looks like a choice between the corrupt ruling terrorists, who may be pondering a shift of some degree or other towards moderation, and the newer, more violent terrorists, who have long claimed they were ready to step in and rule the Palestinians politically but are only now taking steps to do so.
“Now there is serious competition,” said Sakher Habash, a senior Fatah official.
With political survival at stake, Fatah old-timers reluctantly have agreed to hold primaries to select candidates for parliament and even commissioned opinion polls in search of the most electable candidates – remarkable changes for a calcified movement that has dominated Palestinian politics for four decades.
However, the makeover may come too late to attract disgruntled voters, judging by Hamas’ sweeping victory in local elections in 10 Gaza towns in January. Many voters said at the time they don’t necessarily approve of Hamas’ violent ideology, but they want to punish Fatah for its high-handedness.
It’s a shame that there is yet to arise among the Palestinians a viable third voice, a voice for moderation, freedom, peace and progress.
Tension between the rival movements has been rising.
On Sunday, hundreds of Hamas and Fatah supporters threw sticks and chairs at each other at Hebron University in the West Bank. Fatah activists tried to break up a Hamas rally ahead of student council elections Monday, but a Hamas leader on campus, Mohammed Ali, was confident of victory. “When Fatah felt that it was weak, and that it will lose the student elections tomorrow, they tried to ruin our parade,” he said.
The prospect of defeat also has heated up rivalries within Fatah, particularly between veteran leaders, who refuse to step aside, and the younger activists.
Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouti, the most prominent member of the young guard, said Fatah needs a major overhaul to regain the trust of voters.
“If Fatah doesn’t do this, it faces a real danger as far as its leading role is concerned,” Barghouti said. “The leadership of the movement has to move quickly to prove that it can correct these mistakes.”
Barghouti, who is serving five consecutive life terms in an Israeli prison for involvement in deadly attacks, made the comments in a written statement from his prison cell, in response to questions submitted by The Associated Press.
Last week, dozens of gunmen from the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, who have ties to Fatah, broke up a meeting of hundreds of grass-roots activists in Ramallah, shooting in the air. Participants said they suspect the gunmen were sent by those in Fatah’s Central Committee who oppose internal reform.
However, the specter of defeat has spurred Fatah leaders into action.
Habash said he has hired four polling companies to test the popularity of Fatah candidates. Those who score low will be cut from the slate without hesitation, he said in an interview in his Ramallah office. “This is strictly different from the elections we had in 1996,” he said, referring to the campaign for parliament in which candidates were largely chosen based on their loyalty to the late Yasser Arafat.
Independent pollster Faisal Awartani, one of those commissioned by Habash, said choosing the most popular candidates is Fatah’s only chance of winning, but he fears the party is resistant to change.
Ah, it’s all about electability over substance and ideas. Echoes of the Democratic Party’s 2004 nomination process.
Hamas’ decision to compete, coupled with its observance of an unofficial truce with Israel, is a major step in what is seen as the group’s gradual transformation into a political party. Hamas remains committed to Israel’s destruction but has indicated it is willing to accept the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem as an interim step.
Peace and prosperity are simply not possible for the Palestinian people while a sizable portion of their society place priority on the destruction of neighboring Israel over their own success as a people.
I’m inclined to think that a military background wouldn’t hurt anyone.
—William Faulkner
I’d like to take a moment to thank those who’ve recently blogrolled or linked to Target Centermass.
First, thanks to the following for adding TCm to their blogrolls:
Second, I want the thank the Unofficial Battlestar Galactica Blog for the recent link and for pointing me to this rather simple Battlestar Galactica drinking game.
Third, I wanted once again to pimp for two sites intended for Texas bloggers:
As always, if you’ve linked or blogrolled Target Centermass and I haven’t found you, please send an email or post a comment. No good deed should go unrewarded.
EDIT: Correcting when the TexasBlogfest 2005 is happening. Hey, I lost track of dates.
I think I’m just going to enjoy an easy Saturday evening. See y’all tomorrow.
Okay, just this little tidbit: there’s a new campaign aimed at helping Americans learn the words to the national anthem. Yes, just the first verse. It’s a good cause, but it’s a shame it’s needed.