bustardblog

August Rush

On Tuesdays the Green Market is closed. So I was a bit confused to see all the signs of the market today.
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But no one at the market sells apples in cute little bags. In fact a film was being shot, called August Rush, by Warner Brothers. It was a Potemkin Green Market, and everyone in the photo is acutally an actor.

And usually a Fruit Company sells fruit, not vegetables. And it can spell "Friut."
But the tents over the stands were the same kind used in the real market, and the stands were in the part of the Square where the real market is held.

One of the stars is Freddie Highmore, in the red jacket. I think the woman next to him is the director - Kirsten Sheridan.

He's climbing down from inside the farm truck.

While taking these shots, three real New Yorkers came up to me and wanted to buy apples. Why hadn't I put up signs with the prices - one asked. We New Yorkers can be fairly oblivious of our surroundings.

Tierney on Tyranny

In today's NYTimes, the (male) libertarian John Tierney discusses the study by two (male) sociologists that examins what "women" want.

In sum, Mr Tierney finds the Stockholm Syndrome still operative.

Lies from The Right

The hunger on the part of right wing blogs for lying and smearing is insatiable. It's instructive as well as shocking and depressing to examine the constant manufacture of outrage in which they engage.
A Mr. Darrow Boggiano has called for a demonstration to take over the White House. He wants to form a new political party to overthrow President Bush. He clearly wants "to create OUR PARTY."

By the time they get finished the Michelle Malkin gang has decided that Mr Boggiano is actually Teresa Heinz Kerry after her sex change.

All Things Bright and Beautiful quoted the guy's harangue at length, and then briefly characterized and linked to her team-mates, all of whom blatantly lie.

Wizbang says "I wonder if the CIA and NSA realize they are listed as sponsors of this event." But that isn't what the guy wrote. He said "We are requesting participation from all member of..."

Strata entitled his piece "What Democrats Want". "The Anchoress follows the dem's path of destruction" is how her essay was assessed. Yet in his call for action, Boggiano specifically said he wanted a new party. There is no link whatsoever between his 'group' and the Democratic Party.

It gets even more specific.  The Captains Quarters lies about who is organizing the event by writing "the rally being organized by the group United for Peace and Justice." Except they are not the organizers. It is organized by Boggiano's "group": politicalcooperative.org. UFPJ does list the event on the calendar  - but they explicitly state "Every event or idea on the site are not necessarily endorsed by members of United for Peace and Justice." Not only are they not organizing the event, they are not even endorsing it!

Taking it to the next level is TheConfederateYankee.who writes that "SweetnessandLight notes UFPJ is a Teresa Heinz Kerry supported organization calling for the illegal overthrow of the duly-elected government." But Mrs Heinz Kerry has never given a penney to UFPJ, who is not orgainzing the event.

The lie about her donating money to the group was created during the 2004 election. It was thoroughly disproved at the time.

Their smear machine never stops. Did I tell you that Laura Bush is actually the illegitimate daughter of Adolf Hitler?

02-27-05

One Year Ago, Central Park, New York

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Shoes

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Union Square 02-25-06

Is this shoe thing national, or only a New York phenomena?

Vail in Dubai

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Indoor Sking in Dubai

Profiling Republican Racists

In today's WaPo, Charles Krauthammer writes complete Bull Shit.
"Democrats loudly denounce any thought of racial profiling. But when that same Arab, attired in business suit and MBA, and with a good record of running ports in 15 countries, buys P&O, Democrats howl at the very idea of allowing Arabs to run our ports. (Republicans are howling, too, but they don't grandstand on the issue of racial profiling.)"

He essentially takes the same position that Tom Friedman in today's Times: that to question the right of an Arab to take control of port operations is to question the right of any Arab to take control.

Al Qaeda has no problem distinguishing between Muslim nations. They have set off no bombs in Dubai. They have bombed Jordan and Egypt.  Al Qaeda has attacked targets in Morocco, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia. It has hit no targets in Dubai. Clearly, Al Qaeda sees differences between Dubai and many other Arab and Muslim nations.

For the administration and it's supporters to describe opposition to Shaikh Mohammed operating our ports as racism or profiling is false. It is also incredibly racist and stupid. For it is the administration that is saying that Shaikh Mohammed is representative of  all Muslims. It is the administration who have turned this into a issue of race - and thus offensive to many Muslims around the world.

Shaikh Mohammed also can make distinctions between Muslims. As I have mentioned here and here, Dubai has been categorized as a "Tier III" level trafficker of humans by the State Department. (This is the worst level) When Dubai abducts children into slavery to be camel jockeys - it does not enslave it's own children. It can tell the difference. So it is to Pakistan that "400 underage boys" were repatriated in 2004.(Human Rights Report)

No, it is Bush who thinks a billionaire despot is the only type of Arab with whom to do business.

 

 

All the Shaikh's Boys

Remember early last year when you thought that Bush was finally doing something right with his strong condemnation of human trafficking? His Under Secretary of State quoted the President in June 2005, as saying "No one is fit to be  master, and no one deserves to be a slave" and then went on: "Because of the stain of slavery on our own history, these words have special meaning to us. And they guide our efforts against trafficking in persons."

Well never mind.

In June of 2005  the U.S. State Department did "publish it's fifth annual Trafficking in Persons Report," in which countries are categorized as to whether or not they are applying minimal standards to prevent slavery in their countries. The U.A.E.got the worst possible rating - Tier III. Ambassador John Miller, the Senior Adviser to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice on human trafficking, noted that "if a country stays in Tier III, it will require sanctions."

The report read "The U.A.E. Government's efforts to provide protection and assistance to victims of trafficking were minimal....Despite the ongoing trafficking and exploitation of thousands of children as camel jockeys and women in sexual servitude, the government made insufficient efforts in 2004 to criminally prosecute and punish anyone behind" it. This report was issued by Condoleeza Rice's Department of State.

That same Department of State issued a Human Rights Report for 2004: "trafficking ....in very young boys used as camel jockeys continued to be serious problems." It reported that the "ABWTI estimates approximately 5,000 boys are still in the country as camel jockeys."

Camel jockeys of course race camels.  They are young boys who were been kidnapped or sold into slavery. Some of them have been obtained as young as at 6 months, and start racing at 4 or 5 years old. By the time they are ten the boys have generally gained enough weight (despite the best efforts of their owners) and are too heavy to be a jockey. They also become a bit jaded. As the Economist put it; the "children scream loudly at the starting line, shreiks of pure terror.  This is part of the plan. Their startled cries excite the camels, pushing them to top speeds. Trainers say it is impossible to find Arab children who will scream with such fright at the camels." The younger ones often cannot hold on themselves, so they are velcroed or strapped onto the animal. Injuries, and even death, are not uncommon.

Shaikh Mohammed, who will soon be handling our ports, says that the camel "is part of [his] heritage, part of the Arab environment." He personally owns about 5,000 camels - 2,000 are for racing, and 3,000 for breeding. His brother, Shaikh Hamdan owns about 2,000. In trying to describe the Shaikh, Forbes asked it's readers to "think of Dubai as a corporation and Mohammed its chief executive - without a board of directors getting in his way."

His Highness, the Shaikh, has repeatedly said that the use of young slave boys  as jockeys was being stopped, but the U.S. State Department disagrees. (Photos from 2004, here)

So if His Highness, the President, is able to force the sale through, you can sleep well knowing that the profits made in our ports will be used to buy more camels, and to buy the young boys who will ride them.

** This post has been slightly revised, mostly to clear up some links.

Dubai: A Retirement Community?

The Dubai deal that Bush is promising to push through, even if it requires violating his virginal veto power, is at least as stupid as everyone says.

Dubai, the fastest growing city in the world, is also one of the most ridiculous. It has a Taj Majal that is 3/4 as big as the original. It has snow-skiing in a huge indoor stadium, with five runs, one of them a black diamond. It dredges the ocean floor to get sand to build islands in the sea that will house more condos, hotels and office buildings. One developer is creating islands that imitate the geography of the earth. Recently he hired a famed golfer to hit a ball from 'Greenland' to 'Iceland' as a promotion. It's in the process of constructing the tallest building in the world. In order to attract the tourists it wants to  cultivate, prostitution is rampant. Famous for it's camel racing, it doesn't admit to still using young slaves, boys generally under 10 years old, as camel-jockeys. But photos of the young slaves were taken in Dubai in 2004 by anti-slavery.org.  UAEPrison.org reports that "Abuses also happen in Dubai,which human rights activists say is the center of the child slave trade."

And it's  a monarchy. An oligarchy of five families controls everything that goes on. If the deal goes through, the ruling family, the Maktoums, would be running our ports.The Christian Science Monitor notes that "it is arguably less democratic than even neighboring Saudi Arabia."  There is a native population of about 150,000, out of a total population of about 1.3 million - the vast majority of which are foreign nationals; laborers from Asia earning horrible wages in construction and as domestics.

The Guardian noted that the ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, runs Dubai "like a private enterprise. The Maktoums own everything and there is virtually no political or press freedom." The family is staking their future on making the city a banking, shipping, and tourist mecca. They envision themselves as the New World capital.

Bush calls Dubai an ally in the war on terror.  Yet in July 2001, after the embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar and shortly before 9/11 - where did Osama go to get medical treatment? Dubai. (AFP, LeFigaro *)

In fact, it is curious that after bombing Saudi Arabia several times; Egypt and Jordan this year as well, Bin Laden has not attacked the muchmore heretical Dubai. Alcohol is everywhere, as well as prostitution, and bikinis are almost required on the beachs. It also has much less security. The C.S. Monitor states that one reason for this is "that Dubai is still a useful place for the illicit transfer of funds - for example through the hawala system"... "referring to the traditional paperless money-transfer system believed to play a key role in terrorist financing."

So Bush is once again putting his faith into an unelected, anti-democratic dictator - a man who depends on the kindness of Bin Laden. Dubai is far more reliant on tourism, the West, and the appearance of stability than Saudi Arabia or Jordan.  Both Bin Laden and  Sheikh Mohammed Maktoum know that a little  bombing at a building a little higher than the World Trade Centerwould do immense damage. Bin Laden has the capacity to destroy the City State of Dubai if it did not cooperate with him.

Although many consider the Sheikh a genius for all of the wealth he has brought to his tiny kingdom, I question his judgment in this deal.  He has to know that the next administration in Washington will not be nearly as feckless as Bush's. Is it smart to maneuver your country/company right smack into the middle of a war?

The only possible logical explanation is that both Bush and Bin Laden have decided to retire there. It has a really luxe life style, and is sort of the ultimate gated community. Bin Laden could buy Iceland, while W goes for Greenland. They can chip shots across the sea at each other. They could also be sure that the U.S. would not bomb a city where a former President lived, and no Arab State could attack Bin Laden's home.  War Crime Tribunals are very unlikely in Dubai.

(Sorry this is not the original link, but it does refer to the article)

 

Burying the Dead

Today's paper edition of the N.Y. Times has a large photo above the fold of U.S. Marines digging for bodies in the Philippines. A tragic landslide buried approximately 1,000 people in the mud on Friday - four days ago. The U.S. Maines are there to help.

Almost six months ago, close to 1,400 people died in a tragic hurricane in New Orleans.  Bodies are still buried in the mud there.The Times estimated the number as in the dozens.

"Officials have compiled a list of 225 addresses in the Ninth Ward whose residents are still missing."

Some of these houses have collapsed; some have a few feet of mud on the floors. The Fire Department in  New Orleans cannot get FEMA to promise to reimburse them for the costs of recovering these bodies, and say they can barely afford to meet the safety needs of it's living citizens.

The callous indifference and incompetence of this administration is shocking.  Born again Christians who do not care if the dead have proper burials are not Christians.