Sharon is a bastard, but Arafat is the bigger bastard.

Actually, they're both equal in terms of the adjective used to describe what kind of bastard they are.

agreed

YAY! Lol. No doubt, im happy the terrorist is dead. I wish all of them would drop off the face of the planet.

I happy that he went because of medical causes and not some assassination. The area is volatile enough.

Hundreds of thousands of people swarmed the helicopters, but at least the funeral procession was relatively peaceful, by Middle East standards. However, it's hard for me to feel sorry for people who show up to the funeral and fire freakin' weapons into the air.

Sadly Erendis, its more of a cultural thing than anything else, a stupid thing that I have no idea how it got started.

I remember in Karachi during weddings in the family of the landlords, people used to fire stray bullets into the air as sign of celebration ... silliest cultural tradition I've come across.

Baba - could it be that it's the lack of Physics classes that caused this tradition? ;-)

After all, a bullet that goes up in the air has to come down with the same velocity.

no not really .. i dont think the people firing these bullets care about them landing .. : )

funny story though ...
When my friend and I use to play counterstrike, we would always play terrorist (cause of the AK 47 which reminded us of the landlord guards **cough**heartless assholes**cough**. We'd choose a typical terrorist name from our city and at the end of each round, you had 5 seconds before everything respawned and we'd fire bullets into the air. It was hilarious the first time we did it cause everyone in the room from back home understood who we were immitating ..

good times ...

ok funny story to me, prolly not to a lot of other people here.

Heh, and that's exactly my point

You ought to be out of your mind to fire a bullet straight into the air, especially with a crowd around: it's bound to hit someone. Especially stupid is discharging a gun at an even 90 degrees.

ofcourse i know ... but like i said, it wasnt a lack of physics class. these people didnt care who it hit, if it hit.

90 degrees isnt all that stupider .. chances are, you'll move.

Chances are, actually, the bullet will move, it's just more likely to hit someone around you.

But I see your point that it's not physics, it's the not caring. Bleh. How many stories do they need to hear about people being killed at weddings for the "tradition" to change? Then again, Russians beat the shit out of each other at weddings, it's a "tradition" too. Doesn't stop anyone from getting drunk.

Bwahahahahaha!

You are on a roll today all ready Krem.

@Erendis, yes, an assissination would have been the go ahead for the flood-gates to open. That being said, I pretty much knew it wouldn't happen that way. Hadn't he become an expert at avoiding this stuff? He survived dozens of attempts in th epast I'm sure.

hehe yea .. though I havent actually come across an incident where someone got hit, I'm sure it must have happened.

This is actually refreshing news for me. That Blaire and Bush rcognize that Sharon's immediate line of action is actually, in the long term, probably having a negative effect on dismantling terrorist infrastructure. I wish they'd realize it in Fallujah as well.

-Dolce

I think what upsets me is the general attitude toward guns, and the environment that fosters it. I don't think of it as a "tradition" like throwing a bouquet or something. It's deeper in culture, like the American car culture. Cars are so pervasive here that you don't even think about them; it feels odd not to see them, or you're suprised when the road is not paved, etc. It's the same sort of thing with the guns I guess.

well thats why theres something called a culture shock .. some people have completely different traditions that none os us get to see cept on a few occasions ... which makes it even more weirder and uncomforting ...

I think all the foreign leaders who praised Arafat and his "achievements" in the Middle East, should've attented his funeral at Ramallah, and not in Cairo.

Yeah, I'm incised by all the media lovefest, thanks for asking ;-)

Hehehe. That was good too.

I don't think the article failed to achnowledge he was also the biggest set-back and a large part of the reason why negotiations halted, what they are doing is acknowledging his symbolism. He did embody certain concepts (whether warranted or not) where everyone associated him with the push for a Palestinian state.

-Dolce

I'm not talking about this particular article (cause I didn't read it, duh), I'm just saying overall. Listening to CNN on the night of his death, I was going to puke.


To be fair, though, there is a fair share of editorials that don't pull any punches.

BTW, I completely agree that time for Sharon's excuses about "no partner" is over. He has to work with Abbas.

I think that article does acknowledge it .. right in the beginning but chooses to focus in the end on one thing only ...

read the first line .. it calls him the biggest obstacle.

Very classy.

**Looks at Krem**

**turns back to the flag and nods in approval**

**Looks at Krem again**

**Looks back at flag and acknowledges it and approves it**

*refuses the temptation to point out that when Reagan died, no such thing could concievably take place*


SNAP! I just did what I wasn't supposed to!

Rusty = I'm Lost

On the other hand, I think that half-mast was a diplomatic formality Dima. Its being flown in acknowledgment of the symbol and as an attempt to indicate a willingness to move on and negotiate. If that's what it takes to bring people back to the table, I guess I'm okay with it.

-Dolce

Hear hear.

It is Krem who does not want the matter solved.
Hes the biggest obstacle.